Shattered Reverie
by Sy Druid
Summary: Sequel to Ironic Circumstances. Riku and Sora thought things were over following their harsh trip from the capital. Yet, the past refuses to leave Sora alone. Riku will have to fight not only against the past, but with someone bent on making Sora his.RXS
1. Sleepless Morning

Disclaimer: Like many other authors, I too wish that I could own these delightful characters. But, the giant moguls known as Square-Enix and Disney refuses to give them to me, so I am only borrowing them for my sick and twisted amusement.

**A/N: After wrapping up "Ironic Circumstances" I came to realize that things couldn't simply be "happily ever after". So, after a lot of thought and careful planning, I bring you the first chapter to the continuation of this project. Set seven months after our heroes return to the rural islands of the nation. Enjoy everyone, I hope I don't disappoint any of you. And if you haven't read the first installment, then you are in for a confusing ride.  
**

**Shattered Reverie**

**Chapter 1**

**Sleepless Morning**

Darkness seemed to seep from every corner of the room, enveloping everything in a very nerve wracking black. He could hear a multitude of voices whispering, taunting him, making every little step he took difficult as he walked along this dark and lifeless room. Blue eyes, brighter than any sky, were like a beacon in the shrouded atmosphere, warding off all the shadows that were creeping up on him. But Sora could only take in so much before the voices would grow louder; their shouts making him quiver as they continued harassing him and making him feel like he was worth absolutely nothing.

"_How could you?"_

"_Don't you even care?"_

"_He doesn't care about anyone but himself."_

"_To think he would choose that boy instead of his precious mother."_

"_You let her die!"_

"_Stupid boy, did you think that you would make it on your own?"_

Sora fell to the floor, hands cupping his ears in an attempt to stop the voices. Tears freely fell down his cheeks, each one leaving a salty trail as he struggled against the inhumane taunts. He could feel something, a physical presence watching him from behind. It was the most uncomfortable feeling, yet, he felt he needed to turn and see what it was. With the voices still shouting, and the room growing darker; Sora slowly turned his head to the side. Those bright blue eyes suddenly lost their light as they fell on a woman with shoulder length hair, her face hidden behind those brunet locks. Sora's mouth grew dry at the sight, his breathing becoming more erratic the moment he realized what it was he was seeing.

"…Bea…Beatrix?"

The word escaped his quivering lips, causing the woman to look up ever so slowly. If Sora could shout, he would, but his ability to speak was gone. With her face a deathly white, and a pair of eyes darker than any fathomless pit, Beatrix reached out for the brunet cowering in front of her.

"How could you let me die?"

She threw her arms forward, blood trickling down her arms from wounds resting on her palms. Sora tried to move, but it was like tiny hands were holding him down, forcing him to watch as she neared him.

"You drove me into doing this, my baby."

Sora shook his head, shutting his eyes closed in order to avoid the bloody sight.

"No! I didn't do anything, it's not my fault!"

Then, everything went silent as a pair of hands clutched his shoulders. The voices were gone, the tiny hands gripping him to the floor had vanished, but he knew that Beatrix was still there. He opened his eyes, but regretted it a moment later. With her slit wrists oozing blood all over Sora's clothes, Beatrix leaned in and whispered something in Sora's ear.

"I love you."

And then there was a scream.

X

He held onto the thrashing figure, cradling him against his chest as the brunet fought off whatever was going on inside his mind. Riku, with his long silver hair, could do nothing but wait for Sora to wake from the nightmare. It was a horrible feeling not being able to do something to calm him, but Riku refused to loosen his grip on the shorter boy, his entire body soaked in sweat.

"Come on Sora, fight it, you can do it, I'm here for you."

Riku brought his forehead against Sora's, willing every positive feeling and memory into his significant other. Slowly, the boy cradled in Riku's arms began to quiet down, his movements becoming sluggish as whatever nightmare he was having was coming to an end. Letting out a sigh, Riku ran a few fingers along Sora's face. He smiled inwardly, knowing that Sora had beaten whatever was haunting his sleep, that is, for the moment. This wasn't the first time he had seen Sora suffer this way.

"It's okay Sora, it's okay. It's over now, I'm here."

Sora slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry in the darkened room. He knew that Riku was at his side, his powerful arms holding him. It took a few more seconds before he could grasp everything around him and used Riku's position to help himself up. Sora leaned back against the frame of the bed, his wet and heavy hair drooping over his face. Riku watched his movements, his hands at the ready in case Sora decided to drop off again.

"You okay?"

Sora heard Riku's words and moved his head to the side. Tired eyes looked at him, his lips turning into a weak smile. It was a good enough answer for the silver haired youth as he pulled Sora close, leaving a kiss against his sweaty forehead. Sora allowed the taller teen to hold him. It didn't matter what he dreamt, as long as Riku was there to chase the shadows away.

"It was the same one," Sora said, his face burying further against Riku.

The silver haired teen knew exactly what he was referring to. He felt an unexplainable anger, knowing very well that the person haunting Sora's dreams was none other than his stepmother, Beatrix. Yet, she was dead, and she was still causing Sora harm. Riku hit the comforter around him with a closed fist, his teeth clenching at the thought.

"_It's been over 7 months now, why can't you just leave him alone?" _Riku thought, his hand soothing Sora's back.

"What time is it?"

Riku glanced at the alarm clock set on Sora's desk, the digital numbers reading a bit past 3 in the morning. "It's early, let's go back to bed."

Sora let out a tired sigh as he extracted himself from Riku, his hands removing the suffocating comforter around him. "I need to take a shower, I feel like shit."

The silver haired teen watched as Sora got out of bed, the moonlight penetrating through the windows making Sora shine from the thin sheen of sweat covering his body. He gave Riku another comforting glance before disappearing into the hallways. With the door open, he noticed a slightly chubby feline walk in, his meows loud against the silence of the room.

"Hey Figaro, you worried about Sora too?"

The black and white cat stopped short of the bed and jumped with a swift thrust of his legs. Figaro crawled across the bed, his whiskers tickling the tips of Riku's fingers. He began purring the moment Riku placed a hand on his head, the sounds resonating up the silver haired teen's arm. He sat there for a few minutes with Figaro's purring and the faint sounds of the running shower filling the silence. The walls of the room were decorated in black-framed photographs, each consisting of a pleasant memory he had shared with Sora. Everything from sharing an ice cream cone, to a romantic looking photograph of him and Sora sharing dinner at one of the piers. He didn't know how long he had been staring at the walls when he heard the footsteps of his significant other approaching the room. Clad in a mauve colored towel, Sora entered to see Riku with Figaro in his arms.

"Spoiled cat," Sora teased, making his way to the dresser off to one of the corners. In several swift motions, the towel was on the floor and Sora was dressed in a pair of clean boxer-briefs. He tossed his head, ridding his hair of any excess water as he walked back to bed. Riku smiled at him, knowing that the shower was what he needed.

"Come on, let's go back to bed, we have to be up in a few hours for school."

He could detect a scowl on Sora's face despite the darkness, and he couldn't help but grin. "You didn't do your report for Ms. Aurora's class, did you?"

The brunet plopped himself next to Riku and brought a hand over Figaro's head. He let it rest there, which was very much appreciated on the black and white feline's part. "It's not just that, I just…don't feel like going today."

Riku's expression faltered. "That's what you've been saying for the past couple weeks. Sora, you've missed a lot of classes, I'm worried about you."

The usual cheery tone in Sora's voice was not there when he responded. "You don't have to worry about me, I'm fine. I'm still doing all the work, I just don't feel like being around everyone today."

The silver haired youth could almost laugh. "Sora, you were thrashing around not to long ago, you were covered in sweat. How can I not worry about you? You know that."

Sora placed his head against the frame once more, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, I know you're worried. It hasn't been easy, these last couple months." He began drawing circles against his thigh. "I thought after coming back to the rural islands and going back to school that things would get better. But…it hasn't."

Riku watched Sora, the way he dug a finger against his skin. "It just takes time Sora, there's nothing more we can do than to move on and forget about everything that happened last year. Remember that I'm here, that all our friends are here for you. You're not alone."

Sora moved his head to the side, landing against Riku's shoulder. The taller teen breathed in the delicate scent of vanilla, Sora's favorite shampoo. "You smell good."

Sora brought a hand across Riku's face and pulled him towards his own. For a second, Riku hesitated kissing Sora, but the hot breath touching his lips was too much to ignore. Closing his eyes, the taller teen accepted the affectionate kiss. They remained like that for several minutes, their hands traveling all over each other's bodies. Figaro looked at them with disapproving eyes, realizing that they weren't going to be paying him any more attention. With a flick of his tail, the feline was back on the glossy floor and scampering into the darkened halls.

X

Riku let out a yawn, the act catching the teacher's attention and therefore putting the spotlight directly on him.

"Riku, is my lecture really that boring?"

Snapping awake, Riku looked to the front of the class and noticed Mr. Vayne's steady glare. Wiping at the corner of his mouth, the teen replied courteously.

"Not at all Mr. Vayne, the sun just got in my eyes. I'm sorry."

All around him he could hear the snickering of fellow classmates, but they soon died down as the teacher continued with his lesson. Riku let out a sigh as he stretched his arms, the tips of his fingers falling over the edge of his desk.

"Up all night again?"

Riku looked over his shoulder, the face of a pretty girl with strange looking blonde hair showing off her smile. He rolled his eyes at his fellow senior classmate Larxene, knowing that she was only being a pain.

"Oh come on, you've told me about it before, how you and Sora can go at it for hours."

A blush crept its way across Riku's cheeks before turning to Larxene and offering her a venomous look. "Shut up!"

The blonde girl pressed her back against her seat, a malicious grin touching her lips. "You're so easy to piss off, I love it."

Riku didn't understand how Kairi could be friends with such a girl, yet it was solely her fault that Larxene had found a spot amongst their group of friends. She wasn't a terrible person, but she sure was annoying. Riku would never refer to Kairi as annoying following Larxene's antics. Everyone else didn't mind her, which was perfectly fine by him. The ringing of the bell broke his reverie and urged him to pack his things away.

"Alright class, read the next chapter and take note on how you think the new arrival will play a key part in the novel. I expect at least two paragraphs by tomorrow."

With a groan, the class dispersed, leaving Riku and Larxene at the end of the line leading into the hallways. People were bustling about, glad that the lunch hour had arrived.

"You gonna join Kairi and the gang for lunch?" Larxene asked as she carefully added a layer of lipgloss to her already pink lips.

Riku knew the answer already. "Not today, I'm having lunch with Sora. He hasn't been feeling to well and doesn't want to deal with everyone."

The blonde smacked her lips, the sound cracking through the air. "Sounds like someone had a fight."

"Oh shut up! You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

Larxene blinked furiously. "Gee, I'm sorry Riku, I was just playing around."

The silver haired teen didn't seem pleased with the apology. "Leave me alone, tell Kairi I'm not going to meet up with her after school."

With that said Riku walked off, leaving Larxene a bit perplexed as to why he suddenly exploded like that. "Psh, someone's pissy."

Turning her back to him, the blonde disappeared into the crowds, her odd antennae-like strips of hair bobbing along as she walked.

X

"What do you mean he's not going to meet up with me?"

Kairi held a furious look on her face following Larxene's little tidbit of information. She was sitting in the usual spot, underneath one of the massive palm trees in the academy courtyard. Everyone made sure to steer clear of the area, knowing what Kairi was capable of if her wishes weren't met. Selphie Tilmitt was not far off, sitting with her back to the tree and her boyfriend, Hayner at her side. They were busily talking when Kairi's words broke their attention and the two found themselves looking up at the pair of Larxene and Kairi.

"Something wrong Kairi?" Selphie asked, getting to her feet and dusting away at her blue and white plaid skirt.

With her long hair back to its original auburn color, Kairi turned around to face her best friend. "Riku's gone off with Sora. Again."

Selphie looked over to Hayner, the two knowing very well that their friends had been spending less time with them in the past couple weeks. The petite brunet offered her condolences to Kairi, but it seemed that not even her kind words were capable of quenching Kairi's anger.

"What's the big deal? So Riku and Sora want some alone time, don't get all hysterical."

"That's exactly the point," Kairi quickly threw in, "That "alone time" has been going on for weeks now. If you guys call yourselves friends, then you would notice that something's wrong with Sora and it's taking its toll on Riku."

The blonde senior didn't dare reply, knowing that what Kairi was saying had a lot of truth to it. In the short time they had allowed her to join their group, Larxene grew to care for the two boys, even though she would never let them know it. To everyone else, she would appear to be a cold and at time, heartless person, but she knew herself well and wasn't like that in the slightest. Perhaps she was just a little jealous of her friends, not because of who they were with, but because they had someone that cared for them. Larxene's expression saddened momentarily before Kairi quickly chorused back in with her loud voice.

"You have English class with him, did Riku say anything?"

The blonde girl shook her head. "Not a thing. He looked tired though, like he'd gotten little sleep."

Kairi bit her bottom lip, replaying the senior's words in her head. "He has been looking pretty tired, Sora too. Hey Selphie."

The short brunet looked up, her hand clasped in Hayner's hand. "Yeah?"

"You live right across from him, have you noticed anything when Riku comes home?"

Selphie felt the eyes of everyone staring at her, yet she no longer felt intimidation in their looks. "Not really…he's been coming home pretty late. Sometimes he doesn't even come home."

"Same here, I've noticed him coming home late whenever I'm over at Selphie's house," Hayner added."

Kairi brought a finger to her chin. "Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's probably at Sora's whenever he doesn't come home. Now the only question is, what's going on with Sora that's making Riku act like this?"

"Maybe you should talk with his mom," Selphie said.

Kairi nodded, realizing that it was the best idea they could come up with. "I'll do just that. Maybe Yunalesca knows something. Who better knows Riku than her?"

X

Sora took the cup being handed to him and took a quick sip, allowing the tart flavor to wash the inside of his mouth. He stood at the pier, his eyes cast against the ocean. Riku stood at his side, his hair flowing gently with the passing breeze.

"You sure you don't want something to eat?"

The brunet shook his head, "No, I'm fine with this."

Riku didn't argue, instead he sipped from his own cup as he too gazed at the waves. Birds flew overhead in intricate patterns, their bright and colorful feathers adding to their performance. He watched them go by, wishing that he too could fly like that and escape some of the less than tolerable moments.

"How was English? Was Larxene being a pain again?" Sora asked, taking another sip of his drink.

Riku smiled, "Yeah, but I deserved it. Mr. Vayne caught me yawning."

Sora let his head droop. "It's because of me that you're tired."

The taller of the two quickly shook his head. "No, no, it's not your fault Sora. I'm fine, really."

"I'm not blind Riku, I can see it with my own eyes."

He turned and stared into Riku's face, the slightly darker skin underneath his eyes a clear sign of it. "I'm sorry Riku, I wish I could make these…thoughts disappear, but I just can't do it. And I feel worse knowing that you're suffering because of me."

Sora's hand began shaking, the drink contained within his clenched fingers spewing some of the soda inside of it. Riku brought an arm around the brunet and gave him a comforting squeeze. "Stop thinking like that, I'm not blaming you for any of this. Understand that Sora, don't let it get to you."

"How can I not?" Sora sharply spat out. "Not only is she haunting me, but it's taking it out on you as well, I can't help but feel like shit."

Not bothering to look up at Riku, Sora began walking off. Riku made to follow but stopped short when Sora looked at him with those pained eyes.

"Don't follow me, I need to be alone. I need to be away from you otherwise I'll just make it worse for you."

_"But you're not Sora, you're not. Try to understand that YOU are NOT making me miserable. It's all in your mind Sora, it's all in your mind. Don't let her taunts get to you."_

It didn't matter if he said it or not, there was no way it would penetrate Sora's unbalanced mind. He watched as Sora disappeared into town, leaving him to stand at the pier on his own. Feeling a surfacing anger in his throat, Riku chucked his cup over the metal railing and into the waves below. Gripping the same rail, Riku could only curse at the memory of Beatrix, the one responsible for Sora's continued anguish.

_"Leave us alone, leave him alone! Don't you understand that you're making him suffer?"_

It had been over seven months, seven long months following their return from the capital, Holly City. Seven months of new memories, encounters, friends, classes, yet not one was capable of defeating the ghosts of their past. Riku could still hear the words uttered by Judge Braska, declaring Beatrix guilty and sentencing her to an eternal period of confinement. When he found out that she committed suicide within the prison walls, he thought things were truly over. But Riku was so very wrong, on so many different levels. Not long after starting the new school year, Sora began suffering horrible dreams, each one leaving the brunet weak and vulnerable. When they became a regular occurrence Riku felt he had no choice but to stay with him, sleep in the same bed and try to keep the shadows away. At one point he suggested talking to Cid, Sora's godfather, but the brunet was quick to let him know that talking with the blonde haired pilot was out of the question. It had been months now, and the shadows were still lurking. Every morning was like the one he had witnessed earlier that day. Riku didn't know how much longer he would be able to keep going, he was indeed, human after all. Running a hand through his long silver hair, Riku began walking towards his car, the white vehicle gleaming under the bright Destiny Island sun. Taking a look at the clock on the dashboard, Riku figured class would be starting any second. Not liking the idea of returning to the academy without Sora, Riku forced himself to drive and try to put a little faith in Sora's well being.

X

He didn't care where he was walking to all he knew was that he needed to be alone for a while. Sora appreciated Riku with every particle of his being, knowing that he was simply trying to help. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, telling him that he needed to stop depending on the strength of others. Sora knew he was capable of being strong, he had proved that to himself the previous summer. But never did he think that she would still be hurting him, with an agony worse than physical pain. Sora took in a shaky breath, his eyes falling on the concrete sidewalk. All around him were his fellow Destiny Island citizens, each one with a happy smile on their face. He wished that he could share in whatever happiness they had, for he desperately needed it. It was at that point that he noticed a fluttering flower petal, landing right in front of his feet. Sora studied the petal, noticing the distinct pink color.

_"It's pretty."_

A shadow appeared in front of him, its owner staring at Sora with a pair of blue-purple eyes. The brunet slowly lifted his head, his gaze falling on the sight of a very handsome looking man. He was definitely taller than he was, and older to say the least. If he had to place an age on the man, he would have to be at least 21. Sora could feel those eyes staring at him intently, almost looking into his very soul. He quickly turned his gaze away, finding something else to concentrate his attention on.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare."

Sora didn't understand why his chest felt so heavy and hot, but he didn't like the way he was feeling. This kind of reaction only happened whenever he was around Riku, so it was a bit unnerving to know that it was happening when the silver haired teen was nowhere to be seen.

"Not at all, it's quite alright."

Sora carefully brought his gaze towards the handsome man, his choppy brown hair sliding a bit past his shoulders. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that there was a pink tint in his hair.

"I, I'd better get going," Sora said as he walked past the taller man, his shoulder managing to brush against him. He sucked in a sharp breath of air, praying to the Faiths to take him as he was. Ye the Faiths weren't feeling charitable when the man placed a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"It's okay, it's not your fault."

Sora's eyes shot wide as he quickly turned. "What did you say?"

The twenty-something year old man looked at him with surprise, but smiled warmly as he brought a hand to rest at his waist. "I'm sorry, I was the one not looking where I was going. I'm at fault for getting in your way."

The brunet let out a relieved sigh, offering the man a weak smile. "Oh…okay."

"Marluxia."

Sora could only blink. "Excuse me?"

The man ran a hand through his hair, "My name's Marluxia, I thought it'd be rude not to introduce myself."

He held out a hand and Sora slowly brought his out. Marluxia reached out and closed the gap, cupping Sora's hand in his gently, yet firmly. The brunet felt his mouth run dry, but he felt it was his responsibility to respond. "I'm Sora, Sora Loire."

Marluxia released his hand and took a couple steps back, "Nice name, I'll make sure to remember it. I'll see you around."

"Marluxia…" Sora thought to himself. He shook his head, picking up his pace as he walked. Sora brought a hand over his heart, the beating pounding away at his chest. He found himself smiling for a brief moment, enjoying how all his worries seemed to disappear the moment he laid eyes on the tall brunet.

_"I'm definitely not in my right mind."_

tbc

**A/N: And that concludes the first chapter to the continuation of "Ironic Circumstances". Let me know if you hated it, loved it, wished I stopped where I did, anything. **

**Also, Marluxia's eye color is never really visible in any scenes with him, so I really had to improvise on that part.**

** References:**

**Vayne: **character found in Final Fantasy XII(12). He is also one smexy bitch. 


	2. Maestro

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts and all it's goodness. So, suing me won't get you much, except a laptop and a vast manga collection.

**A/N: Hurray for positive feedback! Thanks everyone for the reviews, I'm glad you liked what I have so far. Many were quite happy to see Marly-kun, and others were a bit alarmed with the fact that he might not have the best intentions. Nevertheless, it's to late to change what I have planned, and here is the second chapter. Enjoy everyone! And if you haven't read "Ironic Circumstances" first, then get your butt over to it and read!**

**Shattered Reverie**

**Chapter 2 **

**Maestro **

Kairi smiled as Yunalesca entered the living room, her hands busy with a tray holding two glasses of lemonade.

"Here you go Kairi, drink up, it's warm today."

The teen girl thanked the silver haired woman and took the glass into her hands, immediately taking a sip and setting it on the coffee table in front of her. She waited patiently for Yunalesca to settle herself down opposite of her in a comfortable and cushiony looking chair. Her hands sat neatly in her lap, her manicured nails digging into the plaid material of her academy skirt. She could feel Yunalesca's eyes on her, yet Kairi didn't know where exactly to begin.

"I must say I was surprised when you called and didn't ask for Riku. And even more surprising to know that you wanted to speak with me."

Kairi pulled a stray hair away from her face as she cupped both of her hands together. "Well, it's for a good reason, so I won't waste your time."

Yunalesca let out a small laugh, "Oh dear, don't you worry about time, it's late February, business has been slow so I've been home a lot more lately. Go on, what did you want to talk to me about? Riku hasn't been bothering you, has he?" She finished arching her eyebrow.

The auburn haired teen shook her head, sending locks into her eyes. "Not at all, well, sort of, I mean."

She was making incoherent sentences and she couldn't help but blush at her mistakes. Taking in a deep breath, Kairi faced Yunalesca directly. "Is everything okay with Riku?"

It took Yunalesca by surprise. "As okay as he usually is. Why? Have you noticed something I haven't?"

Kairi could see the silver haired woman's expression turn more serious at the thought that something could be wrong with her son. Kairi sat back in her seat, the cool leather touching her neck. "I'm not sure. I mean, all of us, Selphie, Hayner, even Larxene has noticed that something's up with Riku. Not just him, but Sora's been looking really tired and irritable lately. We think it may be because of something with Sora that Riku's been like this."

Yunalesca brushed a hand through her long hair. "Now that you mention it, Riku has been coming home rather late these past two months or so. I didn't give it much thought because I knew he was more than likely with Sora."

Kairi let out a sigh. "I thought you might have had an idea, seeing that you're Riku's mom. But, I guess even you don't know what's going on."

The older woman smiled at her son's friend. "He may be my son, but I don't pry into his life. He's 18 now, an adult, so there's not much I can do about what he does." Her smile faded seconds later. "I can't possibly think of anything that could be wrong with Sora for Riku to act like this. But, I promise if I find anything out that I'll let you know."

Kairi smiled at the older woman. "Thank you."

Yunalesca returned the smile. "But on a different note, since you're here, how have things been going on with you? I don't get much of a chance to talk to you, so anything going on?"

Kairi shrugged. "Nothing exciting really. Still haven't been able to find a boyfriend since Seifer." At this, Kairi rolled her eyes. "I thought that I would be able to get on, but every other guy that I have dated after him feels…odd. I don't know, I thought he would be the one, but I was wrong."

Yunalesca took a sip of her own drink. "Well, what happened last year must have been a great shock for him. I mean, how would you have felt if your mother was being shackled by the police for murder?"

She sighed, "Oh believe me, I don't blame him for being shocked or anything. But still, if Riku and Sora could move on with their lives, why couldn't he? I did everything I could to cheer him up, but nothing seemed to do it."

Yunalesca played with the bangles around her wrists. "You have a point there. But, you're pretty, you'll bounce back soon enough."

Kairi felt her cheeks go pink at the comment. "I hope so, it's no fun being boyfriend-less." She looked at the cell phone sitting within her bag. "Well, I should get going. Selphie's coming over in a bit to do homework, so I'm off."

"Alright dear, it was nice talking to you for a bit. If there's ever a time you need someone to talk to, I'm right here."

Yunalesca walked Kairi to the door and waved as the teen girl got into her bright yellow Porsche.

"I'll make sure to have a quick word with Riku tonight," Yunalesca said to herself. "That is, if he even comes home."

X

It was dusk by the time Sora arrived at the condominium. The skies were ablaze with pinks and purples, and the last golden rays of the sun were just piercing the multicolored clouds. He parked the new blue BMW he got to replace the Mini Cooper from the previous year, the same one a certain blonde haired boy had delicately vandalized. Hearing the distinct beep of the car alarm, Sora adjusted his side bag full of school materials and headed for the lobby doors.

"Hello Mr. Loire," the attendant at the front counter said with a smile.

Sora nodded in response as he walked down the hall, the clicking of his shoes the only sound to pierce the warm air. After several floors, Sora was gazing down the hall to his apartment and noticed that there was someone standing right outside his front door. No longer wearing the horrendous academy uniform, but clad in a pair of beat up jeans and white button up shirt with the last two left open, Riku looked ravishing no matter what he wore. Immediately their eyes met and the silver haired youth offered his boyfriend a smile. Despite their little dispute, if one could even call it that, Sora couldn't help but return the gesture as he closed the gap between him and the taller teen.

"Hope that walk cleared your head a bit. Ended up skipping all the afternoon classes," Riku said as he leaned down to place a kiss against Sora's lips.

Their lips touched briefly as Sora looked up. "Yeah, I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to get upset like that. It's not your fault I'm like this, I shouldn't be taking it out on you."

Riku leaned against the door. "It's okay, I'm not angry," he finished with a grin.

Sora followed by unlocking the door and walking in with Riku in tow. It was no surprise when Figaro came bounding down towards them, his hind legs managing to trip against each other and causing the feline to fall flat on its face. They laughed at the heap on the glossy wood floors. Figaro looked up at them with embarrassed eyes.

"Silly cat," Sora said throwing his bag aside. He ventured into the kitchen and pulled out a couple water bottles and tossed Riku one. Catching it with ease, Riku uncapped it and took a sip. They stood around the kitchen counter rambling for a while, with Figaro playing with his toys off in the living room.

"So you never met up with Kairi this afternoon?"

Riku shook his head. "No, I told Larxene to relay the message. I had a feeling you weren't going to be coming back after lunch, and I figured I wasn't going to either."

Sora looked away. "Just because I don't feel like going doesn't mean you have to ditch too."

It was the beginning of the same conversation they've had over the last couple weeks. Riku leaned on his shoulders as he looked at Sora. "And like I've said a million times before, stop thinking that you're making me do these things, I'm doing it of my own free choice."

Sora shrugged, "But what about everyone else? Don't you want to be around them?"

Riku got up from his seat and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "It doesn't matter as long as I'm with you."

The brunet gave a chuckling sigh, "You're so sappy Riku, I can't stand it sometimes."

This sentence brought about a struggle where Riku ended up winning by pinning the shorter brunet against the refrigerator. Their breath became heated as Riku brought his head down slightly, his lips tantalizing close to Sora's neck. With both hands holding Sora's captive, the brunet was at the mercy of the taller teen. He left a single kiss against his neck and released his grip.

"Hey," Sora whined, feeling the spot on his neck cool, "You're such a tease."

"Come on," Riku said, "let's take a shower and head to bed early tonight."

The thought of sleep quickly robbed Sora of his cheery face, remembering that when sleeping his worst fears came alive. "Okay…"

Taking Riku's hand in his, the taller of the two led them down the halls and into the bathroom. Figaro was left behind, his arms cupping a messy ball of string.

X

Sora knew he was dreaming, there was no way around it. Except, this time, instead of being in a darkened room where the shadows eagerly lashed at his feet, he was standing underneath a warm, beating sun. He looked around, noticing a vast ocean in front of him and pure white sands beneath his feet. For once, in such a long time, he felt comfortable. There were no shadows, no darkened walls and hallways, just a beautiful beach. He began walking around, letting the warm sands carry him forward. With every step something around him would pop up. A palm tree here, a broken log there, the occasional bird flying in the now blue sky. As his comfort level seemed to grow, there was still a small lingering doubt that something would happen and cast his bright world back into darkness. But, as he continued walking, that didn't seem to happen. Before long, he realized he was simply walking along one of the many beaches of the island. He cast his gaze in front of him and noticed the appearance of other people. It was a little surprising to see them without a face though. They didn't pay him any attention as he ventured on, the beach appearing endless.

_"Look at him." _

He felt a trickle of ice shoot up his spine.

_"Doesn't he look so happy?" _

Sora knew it would happen, he felt so stupid for thinking the voices wouldn't return.

_"How cute, his heart is trying to fight us off." _

He watched as the bright sun quickly fell towards the horizon, descending into the other half of the world and casting everything into night. But instead of seeing stars taking the skies, white masks took their place among the heavens. Sora looked at them, but failed to see anything on their blank faces.

_"Did he honestly think that he could escape us?" _

_"He's such a stupid boy." _

_"I agree, very stupid." _

Sora fell to his knees, the sands no longer pure white, but a deep purple. "Leave me alone…"

_"Aww, he's wanting us to leave him alone." _

_"That IS cute." _

_"But we can't, we can't let you go on thinking that things are okay." _

"It's all in my mind, it's only a dream, nothing is my fault, I'm fine, everything is good," Sora dragged on, his hands cupping his ears.

_"Oh no, no, that won't help." _

_"No, not at all." _

_"Your poor mother, how she must be suffering looking at you right now." _

"Shut up! Shut up! She's not my mother, she's NOT!"

Red lines began painting themselves against the white masks in the skies. It wasn't long before Sora was staring at a ghastly sight of sneering, and cackling faces.

_"But she is suffering, so very much. And it's all because of you!" _

"No…" Sora whispered, wishing that he could wake up. He could feel a comforting warmth engulf him, soothing the harsh environment around him. It was Riku, he knew it was him trying help.

_"It's him, his little savior." _

_"Ugh, it makes me sick." _

_"Can't fight your own battles, can you?" _

Sora couldn't help but realize that what the last voice said sounded so frighteningly true.

X

It was his second shower within the last six hours and Sora was becoming horribly irritated with waking up at odd hours of the morning to rush into the bathroom to rid himself of the sweat covering his body. But he couldn't help it; the dreams would not leave him alone. Sora held a hand against the tile wall, the beating of the water washing away the uncomfortable grime. He remained there for a while longer, not really bothering to shampoo his hair or anything as he stared blankly at his feet.

_"Can't fight your own battles, can you?" _

"It's not…true. I can, I have," Sora mumbled. He turned the water off and reached for the towel resting over the curtain. Placing it around his waist once he managed to dry off as much water as he could, Sora got out and walked back out into the hallway. He looked around for a second, his eyes falling on a single table along the hallway illuminated by the moonlight. Sitting in a cream colored vase, a single rose remained closed beside its withered siblings. As he looked at it, he couldn't help but think of the man he had met that afternoon, his velvety violet eyes staring intently at him.

"Marluxia," Sora mumbled before removing his gaze from the table and towards the open bedroom door. He walked in to find a familiar scene of Riku stroking a purring Figaro. The silver haired teen looked up at him and offered his usual caring smile.

_"It's him, his little savior." _

Biting his bottom lip, Sora returned to bed and tossed the covers around him, not caring that he was still wearing the towel around his waist.

X

Riku clasped a hand to his forehead the moment he walked into Mr. Vayne's classroom, realizing that he hadn't done the work he had assigned. Larxene wasn't far behind him, her hands closing a compact mirror she was using to look at herself with.

"I don't think I need to voice the reasons as to why you didn't do the work," she said taking her seat right behind Riku.

"That's right, I would appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut today."

Larxene shot him a dirty glare before packing her compact mirror away. Once the class reached a reasonable audio level, Mr. Vayne cleared his voice as he placed a thin-rimmed pair of glasses against the bridge of his nose.

"Thank you class, it only took you five minutes to get settled in today," he said with exuding sarcasm. "Now, for those of you who were actually paying attention yesterday, I assigned a horribly, horribly difficult assignment where you had to read a mere ten pages and write two excruciating paragraphs."

All around him there was some snickering. He quickly raised his hand and the whispers died down. "And although I know that half of you didn't do the work, I am feeling generous today and won't give you a zero."

Riku let out a sigh of relief following this piece of information. _"Thank the Faiths, they must have done something to him for this miracle to occur." _

Mr. Vayne walked to the front of his desk and used his arms to support himself as he addressed the class. "You see class, today is a very important day. If you remember correctly, I mentioned something about a student teacher back in the beginning of the school year."

The class began murmuring at this, with Larxene and Riku exchanging a random glance.

"Well, I was quite serious. Destiny Islands Academy has a long history of providing college students intent on becoming teachers or professors some day, with an opportunity to teach in a real classroom. So, to many, this will lighten your hearts and make you jump for joy. I have accepted a student from Twilight Town University who will be teaching for two days of the week in my place."

Several snide remarks were made in whispers as Mr. Vayne finished with his little speech.

"Just what we need," Larxene said close to Riku's ear. "A stuck up college student coming to boss us around. Like Mr. Vayne wasn't enough already."

Riku in all honesty, could care less about the news. He began doodling on the back of his textbook, not caring that he would end up having to pay for it once the year was over and the book needed to be turned in.

"So," Mr. Vayne's voice cracked through the air. "Fortunately for us, he's arrived a few days ago and is eager to meet you all. So, I would like everyone to meet my pupil."

They all watched as Mr. Vayne walked to the door and gently opened it. Riku found himself staring directly into a pair of violet eyes. They followed him as their owner walked in, his tall frame matching up with their teacher's. Riku could hear Larxene let out a low whistle, a clear sign that she was probably thinking exactly what was rushing through his mind.

_"He's cute," _they both thought.

"Class, meet Marluxia, your new student teacher."

The group of seniors offered him their own form of greeting as he stood there, dressed in form fitting jeans and a hooded long sleeve red shirt. "Hello everyone."

Riku felt guilty for staring, and even more embarrassed when he felt his face get hot. Larxene was quick to notice this and poked him hard.

"Hey!"

All eyes turned to him and Riku found himself in a sea of stares. Even more unnerving was having both Mr. Vayne's eyes and Marluxia's settled directly on him.

"Riku, is there something you would like to share with the class?"

Sending venomous glances at anyone who dared snicker at him, Riku sat back down but not before sending Larxene a little gesture with his middle finger.

"Is that an invitation?" She retaliated, laughing to herself at how much it annoyed Riku.

"In your fucking dreams," he lashed out concentrating back to the horribly proportioned doodle on the back of his textbook. For the remainder of the class, it was a struggle for Riku not to stare at their new student teacher.

X

"You're kidding me! Our little Riku was ogling at the new guy!"

Kairi and Larxene burst into laughter at Riku's more than annoyed expense. He sat in the usual spot, with Selphie and Hayner not to far off listening on to the other girls' hysterics. Sora, like the day before, was not around.

Once class was let out for lunch Riku had gone looking for him, but failed in his search. Figuring that he'd taken off again, the silver haired teen returned to the courtyard and to a very pissed looking Kairi. After getting an earful from her for ditching her the day before, Riku settled himself under the palm tree and faced hearing Larxene tell of their most interesting English class.

"But he wasn't the only one Kairi, everyone couldn't keep their eyes off of him. Now, brunets are not to my liking," she stopped to give Riku a "sorry" look, "but this guy definitely made me rethink my preferences."

Riku rolled his eyes as he picked up a can of soda and brought it to his lips. "Didn't think you were into guys."

Larxene shot him a sickening look. "Ha. Funny. Anyways…"

Their conversation dragged on, eventually leading into more normal topics like, hair, makeup, all the things Riku could avoid hearing if a particular brunet were there to keep him busy.

"Well, Hayner and I are heading into town for a latte, we'll see you guys later," Selphie chirped in as she got up from her seat.

"Later," Hayner added as Selphie pulled him by the hand. The remaining friends waved goodbye, with Kairi and Larxene quickly returning to their fast ramblings. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Riku mimicked Selphie's actions and got to his feet.

"I'm heading off too, gonna see if I can find Sora."

Kairi's expression turned serious. "Okay, let me know if you need help."

With a toss of his hair, Riku was walking back into the hallways and disappearing into the crowds.

"So, did you find anything out?"

Kairi turned to Larxene and shook her head slowly. "Not a thing. Yunalesca's noticed Riku coming home late, but doesn't know anything besides that. She promised me if anything were to happen that she would let me know, but that's about it."

The blonde senior played with the hem of her skirt. "We'll figure it out eventually. If we're lucky Sora will stop being all emo and Riku will go back to being his normal, cocky self."

Kairi batted away a stray hair. "I sure hope so, but, for the time being, it's not a bad idea to just look out for them."

Larxene nodded, "Sounds good to me."

X

Sora knew Riku would be looking for him, but he didn't really want to be around anyone. Sitting on the deserted bleachers of the track field, the brunet looked outwards with large blue eyes. He had his legs up against his chest, with both arms wrapped around them. It wasn't much of a surprise to see him looking tired, then again, waking up at odd hours of the morning did that to you. And it didn't help when disembodied voices taunted your sleep either. Sora sighed inwardly, breathing in the scent of the body wash he used the night before.

"I knew that uniform looked familiar."

His head shot up to the right and the figure of a tall, shoulder length haired brunet came into sight. The strong rays of the sun intensified the pink tint in his hair, making it look distinctly pink rather than brown. Sora fumbled with the words for a second.

"Marluxia, right?"

The man walked closer, his feet carrying over several of the bleachers as he made his way towards Sora. "Yep. Sora, am I right?"

The shorter brunet nodded limply. "Not really hard to remember."

"I said your name was nice, of course I would remember it."

Sora peeled his eyes off the taller form and set them back on the green of the track field. "What are you doing around here? Mr. Seymour's a pain in the ass to deal with if you're here without his permission."

Marluxia set his arms back against a bleacher seat and looked towards the skies. "Well, it would be a problem if I didn't have his permission, but fortunately, I do."

"You don't look like a student," Sora said with his face resting against his arms. "And I'm not talking about the fact that you're wearing real clothes."

The taller brunet let out a chuckle. "I don't look _that_ old, do I?"

"How old are you then?"

Marluxia grinned, "Take a guess, I promise not to get offended."

Sora fooled around with the idea for a second or so. "I don't know, 22, 23."

"Close, 21."

"That's cool," Sora said. "So, what exactly are you doing here? I'm sorry if I'm being nosy, but it's not everyday I see someone like you at the academy."

Marluxia shook a hand at him. "It's okay, at least you're talking to me. Half the classes I met today couldn't get past a hello. Mr. Vayne told me he was jealous of me. Apparently, he can't keep them quiet long enough for him to finish his sentence."

Sora looked directly at him, those violet eyes staring at him eagerly. "What exactly does Mr. Vayne have to do with you?"

"Well, I'm his student teacher. I will be teaching here at the academy for two days a week for credit towards my teaching degree."

Sora let go of his legs, allowing them to return to the sleek metal surface of the bleachers as he continued looking in Marluxia's direction. "Student teacher? Are you from the capital?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm from Twilight Town, a few hours south of here."

"And I thought this was rural enough," Sora said rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, it's not a very big island. The university has maybe 5,000 students total, but it made it easier for me to get a job here. With less students, you have a better chance at getting what you want."

"Makes sense," Sora added allowing his hands to rest at his sides. "I used to live in Holly City and the schools there were huge. I don't think I could name half or less than half of the people in my yearbooks."

Marluxia smiled at him, the act making Sora feel an uncomfortable feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. It was that same feeling, that same feeling that he had when Riku was around. Taking one look at Marluxia was clear enough for Sora to know that it was not him in the slightest, but he couldn't help the feeling. "So, are you living alone around here?"

The question made Marluxia raise an eyebrow ever so slightly. "Yeah, I am. But I'm used to it, been living on my own since I was young."

Sora looked up when he heard the sound of the school bell. "I should get going. I ditched class yesterday and didn't come back after lunch."

Marluxia played with one of the belt loops on his jeans. "So that explains you being in town yesterday."

Sora nodded, "Yeah, I was having a cruddy day."

"Mind if I walk you to class? I don't start teaching until next Monday, so I have some free time."

The shorter brunet got to his feet and smiled at the offer. "Sure, if you like."

With little worry, Sora and Marluxia began their trek back to campus, the lingering form of students marching through the halls in search of their next class. They walked past the courtyard, with Sora taking a quick look at where his group would usually sit at. Needless to say, there wasn't anyone there.

"Sora?"

The brunet turned around to see Riku standing with his bag over his shoulder. He felt his heart skip a beat when he realized that Sora wasn't alone. "Where have you been? I thought you ditched again."

Riku walked up to the two and shot Marluxia a confused look. "Shouldn't you be in Mr. Vayne's class?"

Marluxia stuffed both hands into his pockets as he began walking off. "Nice seeing you again Sora, I'll talk to you later."

_"Nice seeing you again?" _Riku thought, the sentence making a vile feeling reach his throat. Even more unnerving was the fact that Sora was smiling in Marluxia's direction.

tbc

**A/N: ( holds a shield ) Okay, don't kill me, I know it seems that Sora is falling for Marly-kun, but, well, it's still early to tell. Reviews are met with lots of appreciation. Till next time! **


	3. Distracting the Voices

Disclaimer: I don't own KH, or it's beautiful characters. So, suing me will get you just about nothing.

**A/N: Wow, you guys are fantastic! I didn't expect S.R. to become this popular so soon, but boy am I happy. This chapter deals a bit more swearing towards the end, and a little reunion between foes. Who is it you ask? Well, you'll find out soon enough. Thank you guys, enjoy!**

**Shattered Reverie**

**Chapter 3**

**Distracting the Voices**

Sora couldn't explain the odd, comforting feeling following his conversation with the older man, Marluxia. Perhaps, it was simply the fact that Sora was talking with someone new, someone who wouldn't know anything about him. With the status he held, everyone at the academy knew of him and what had happened to him the previous year. In some part of Sora's mind, it was that known fact that kept him away from the academy. He thought that returning to school could somehow fix things, but things didn't go as planned. When the nightmares began consuming his dreams, people's eyes and whispers would follow him around as well. He never told Riku about it, but he wasn't sure if not telling him meant that Riku didn't know of it. Then again, Riku had the tendency to be able to know what he was thinking. But, with Marluxia, that feeling of dread to know everyone was watching or talking about you was gone. Sora still wasn't sure of it himself, but for a while there during lunchtime, he felt at peace. His concentration broke when he heard Riku walk away, his long silver hair swishing endlessly against his back.

"Riku?" he called out, missing the comforting hand once placed on his shoulder.

There wasn't a response as he turned towards his boyfriend, his taller frame already off in the distance.

"Riku!"

He sprinted after him, eventually stopping him by placing himself in front of him to halt his stride.

"Where are you going?" Sora asked with absolute sincerity.

There was a flicker, a small flicker of anger in Riku's eyes that Sora was not expecting to see. For that split second it was there, and the next the usual soft tone in those aqua-colored eyes was back. They looked longingly at Sora, making him feel safe and secure. But it was that same feeling of being safe that forced Sora to look away.

"_His little savior."_

"I'm taking off."

But it didn't come from Sora. The brunet watched as Riku walked past him, bringing a hand up to the back of his neck and pulling him close for a very brief kiss. Leaving a cold chill on his lips, Riku took off in the direction of the student parking lot.

"_What…what was that?"_ Sora wondered. "Wait, is there something wrong?"

Riku simply smiled at Sora before disappearing into the halls, leaving Sora feeling at a complete loss. After standing there for a few moments longer, the brunet simply heaved a sigh as he marched back the way he came. He had a few more classes before the day was over, and the minute they were he'd go find Riku. Perhaps, by then, whatever was bothering him would have gone. But the scars from the dreams, the voices and what they said just couldn't escape his mind. Sora leaned against the wall right before his next class, struggling to deal and comprehend with his own feelings and worries.

_"Could he have gotten tired of watching me? But I'm independent, I live on my own, I don't need anyone to protect me. I'm fine on my own. He doesn't have to be around me for me to be okay. But…then why did he seem mad? Maybe…maybe he IS getting tired."_

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. After all, how long could someone tolerate countless nights of sleep deprivation and having to deal with a babbling fool like himself? A frown caressed his lips.

_"I don't need a savior, I'm fine on my own. I don't…I don't need him to worry about me. Those voices don't know what the hell they're talking about."_

With a saddened expression touching his features, Sora opened the door to the classroom and met with the perturbed look on his teacher's face. Not bothering to speak to him as he walked in, the teacher simply carried on with the lesson with Sora making his way to the back. School felt so incredibly insignificant at that moment.

X

A flustered expression lay on Riku's face as he chucked his book bag into the backseat of his white Audi. He knew he was annoyed, perhaps even pissed off by the little snippet that Marluxia said oh so joyfully as he walked away from Sora.

_"Nice seeing you again."_

Riku gripped the steering wheel roughly as his teeth bit into his bottom lip. In all reality, it shouldn't have bothered him. So what if Sora met a new friend? So what if Sora just happened to already know the good looking, 21 year-old college student from Twilight Town? So what if he just happened to look at HIS Sora with those violent violet eyes? Okay, so he was jealous. But he had the utmost right to be annoyed. He was Riku, and as everyone in the academy knew, you didn't mess with his significant other.

"Ha! I knew you would be here!"

He dragged his eyes away from the dashboard to see Kairi standing by the passenger seat door. With her usual purse under her arm, and her long burgundy hair currently sporting some curls, Kairi smiled at her longest and dearest friend.

"Where are you going?"

It was the millionth time he had been asked that today. "I'm not in the mood to be here right now, so I'm leaving."

Kairi immediately narrowed her eyes at him. "I just saw Sora walk into Ms. Aurora's class, he's not ditching today so why are you?"

There was a moment where Riku contemplated the question. "Just because Sora isn't ditching doesn't mean I can't leave whenever I want."

Kairi crossed both arms against her chest. "Well, that's how it's been going on these last couple weeks. Don't think that we haven't noticed your absence. Riku, what the heck is going on with the two of you?"

If there was one thing he needed at the moment it was not Kairi's annoying questions. He pressed the button on his door to slide the window on the passenger seat up, but Kairi was not going to be having that.

"Don't you dare Riku, I asked you a question!"

He looked away. "I don't want to talk about it, leave it alone."

But before he could argue further, Kairi quickly opened the door and sat herself down in the passenger seat with both dark blue eyes staring at Riku very carefully.

"Get out Kairi, I'm not in the mood."

"No," she responded.

"I'm not kidding, get out of my car."

"Not until you talk to me," she said placing a leg over the other thereby signaling she was going absolutely nowhere. "I've already had a chat with Yunalesca and she wasn't much help, so I've got no other choice."

Riku scrunched his face up in anger. "What the hell were you doing talking with my mom? What have you been asking?"

"Well excuse me Riku, some of us have been worried if you haven't noticed. We're known as a little something called "friends". Maybe you've heard of us, we're the ones sitting around wondering what the hell is going on with you guys."

There didn't seem to be a quick comeback following her words. Riku let his forehead rest against the steering wheel as Kairi watched him with keen eyes. "It's not really complicated, it's just really tiring."

"Then I'd like to hear it, I promise not to tell the others if you don't want me to, but please don't shut me out."

She heard the doors click shut with Riku turning the car on. "Fine, but not here. I'll take you to where we've been going."

Kairi nodded and adjusted the seatbelt across her chest. Within a few moments they were zooming past the academy gates with the sun shining brightly overhead. The wind was pleasant today; just cool enough to balance out the warmth of the sun. They didn't really talk until they reached the pier overlooking the ocean, the flying formation of tropical birds diving into the waves in search of prey. Riku got out with Kairi following not far behind. The silver haired youth perched himself on the metal railing as the wind caressed his face, soothing the worries momentarily. Kairi settled herself close by and allowed the breeze to bestow its caring touches as well.

"It started right after school started," Riku began, not waiting for Kairi in the slightest and a slight edge to his voice. "We thought things were okay, that everything had been left in the past and that Sora could at last feel at peace. But not long after classes started Sora began having nightmares. I can't possibly explain them, since I don't even know what he goes through every night, but they consume his sleep. I noticed something was wrong after a while and decided to sleep over a couple nights. When I realized how horribly it affected him, I felt that I needed to be there for him."

He looked out at the waves, the surface shining brilliantly with the sun's rays. "I started staying at his place every night, for as long as I could without worrying mom. She didn't mind though, she knew where I was and never questioned me whenever I came home."

_"That's exactly what Yunalesca said."_ Kairi thought, taking in every little word Riku was saying.

"In a way, that made things just a bit easier. If I had to tell her about what had been going on, I know she would be worried. And the last thing I want for her is to be worried, especially now that she's engaged to Vincent."

"What?" Kairi said with large beaming eyes and not caring that she had interrupted. "Yunalesca's engaged? Since when, how did Vincent propose, and why didn't you tell us sooner?"

He smiled weakly, running a hand up his arm. "He proposed last month when mom went up to Holly City for a party celebrating another company he and Sora's godfather Cid had opened. I couldn't go because of school, so it's needless for me to say why Sora couldn't go either."

"That's so cute, I can't believe it. I wonder why she didn't tell me when I talked to her yesterday?"

Riku huffed a disapproving breath at this. "She still hasn't told Selphie's mom. So, if she hasn't told her best friend, why would she tell you?"

Kairi stuck her tongue out slightly. "Sorry for being curious. But, do you think Baralai will take it okay?"

There wasn't any hesitation on Riku's part. "He knows what he did to us was unforgivable, he'll never be able to get over that nor will we. But he is happy for my mom and wants the best for her. So, whenever she plans on telling him it's her choice, but I can safely say it won't be too big of a deal. They've been on good terms, so I'm not worried."

There was a lingering moment of silence as their conversation slowly directed back to the original subject. Kairi let out a cough. "So…how bad are these dreams of Sora's?"

"Nightmares you mean?" Riku corrected, shaking his head. "Horrible. He wakes up thrashing every morning. Sometimes screaming. It tears into me, knowing that I can't do a damn thing to make it better. So, I just hold him and whisper comforting things. It's the best I can do. One thing I know for sure. It's that woman that just won't leave him alone."

Kairi let out a small gasp, realizing he was talking about Sora's deceased stepmother Beatrix. "Oh god…that's awful."

"I know," Riku said softly. "Even though she's fucking dead she won't leave him alone."

"Have you thought of therapy? Maybe that could help him."

Riku shook his head, throwing strands of silver into his face. "That's the first thing I suggested, but he won't go near one."

Kairi rested a hand on his shoulder as she brought her head against his arm. "I'm so sorry Riku, I wish there was something I or the others could do for you guys. But, remember something," she said with complete honesty. "Don't feel like you're alone on this, we're all here, if not them then me. It's not fair for you to hold this burden on your own."

He squeezed Kairi's hand gently. "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind."

The two friends stood at the pier for a while longer, their conversation eventually leading into more lighthearted topics. Kairi even managed to bring a smile to his lips as she laughed.

"So, do you think you're going to be able to deal with Mr. Vayne's new pet?"

And that smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Don't remind me."

Kairi could read his face and knew something else seemed to be up. "You might as well tell me, since your face is so easy to pick apart."

He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "There's nothing to it. I just think it's a waste of time for him to be there. Mr. Vayne's already a pain to deal with, I don't need some prick college student making it worse."

"You'll be in college next year Riku, don't be going off on something you'll be."

The silver haired teen gave a chuckle. "Oh believe me, I'm not going to turn out like that guy."

"Well," Kairi dragged out, "at least you'll turn out cute like he is."

"Oh shut it," Riku said rolling his eyes as Kairi burst out laughing. "If anything I'm better looking."

_"That's right Riku, just keep talking like that, don't let that guy get to you. He's no threat."_

Still, the thought of Marluxia hanging around Sora made his fingers clench up into fists. "Well, if we're done here, why don't we head back? If we leave right now we can make it to last period."

Kairi looked at him with sarcastic eyes. "Oh yeah, cause that's exactly what I'm looking forward to. Let's do something, just you and me. You still owe me for not showing up yesterday. How about you buy me a latte and we call it even?"

Riku shrugged, "Fine by me."

Clapping her hands with glee, Kairi scurried off towards the car with Riku a few strides back.

_"He's no threat." _Riku kept telling himself.

X

Final period had been let out, with Sora, Selphie, and Hayner being the last to leave. They made their way around the crowded halls, their stride evenly matched as they walked.

"So are we going to go or not?" Sora heard Selphie say to Hayner standing on her right.

"Only if you want to, I mean, it's not like we really have to go."

Sora felt slightly out of the loop, then again, whatever they were talking about was something he might have known if he had only been at the courtyard a bit more often. "What are you talking about?"

Hayner looked over at Sora. "A friend of mine from Balamb Garden High invited us to a party at his place, but we weren't sure if we were going to go."

"A party? On a weekday?" Sora said raising an eyebrow.

But he was met with a pair of raised eyebrows himself. "What are you talking about Sora, it's Friday afternoon."

The brunet had to blink several times for it to sink in. "Oh god, you're right."

Selphie glanced in Hayner's direction and met his equally worried look. "Are you okay Sora?" she asked putting a hand on his wrist.

He pulled away softly. "It's fine, I guess I just lost track of time."

The two knew it wasn't that simple, but further questions would only earn them unspoken answers and figured it wasn't worth the effort.

"So, would you like to come along?"

Sora looked up at Hayner. "What? But I wasn't invited, it's your friend, not mine. Plus, what about Pence or Olette? Maybe they'd like to go."

The dirty-blonde haired youth rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not their type of place. Also, I don't think it really matters. People are going to come even if they're not invited. Come on, maybe a party's all you need to get that attitude in better shape."

The brunet teen smiled weakly at this. "I doubt it, but I don't think it would hurt. I haven't gone out in ages either." Sora knew he would rather stay home and lounge around with Figaro attacking his toes, but the thought of music and dancing seemed too great of an opportunity to pass up. Having lived in Holly City for almost all his life meant clubs and music were a daily part of his activities, so it was nothing new to him.

"Alright, I'll go."

Selphie and Hayner shot him smiles as they walked. "Sounds good then, how about we come pick you up around 8? That should give you enough time to get all dressed up, but don't think you need to impress anyone. It's only Balamb Garden."

The three friends went their separate ways at the parking lot, with Sora getting into the lavish and leather decorated interior of his BMW. A thought immediately raced through his head and the next thing second he was dialing Riku's number. After about the first ring, Sora hung up and let the cell phone rest against his chin.

_"No, not tonight. I don't need him to watch over me."_

Throwing the phone into the passenger's seat, Sora quickly turned the ignition and was off, waving to Selphie and Hayner as he drove by with the proud engines roaring. Reaching into a compartment on the dasboard, Sora whipped out a pair of Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses and placed them on the bridge of his nose.

_"Just watch, he won't make it without his little savior."_

Sora gripped the steering wheel, snarling at the taunts inside his head. "Fuck you."

X

With a sleeveless black shirt sporting the words "Liberi Fatali" on the front and ripped white jeans, Sora was almost ready for his friends' arrival. He rushed over to his nightstand and fumbled with a box full of bracelets, necklaces, and other odd pieces of jewelry he had collected over the years. Scrambling through the pieces, which by the way were also quite expensive, Sora found what he was looking for. Out of all the things he had, there was one necklace that seemed to outshine the rest. In a few, swift actions Sora had a dangling platinum crown suspended on a chain around his neck. He looked over at his reflection in a mirror on the opposite wall, his thin frame intensified by the tightness of the clothes. The brunet ran a hand or two through his hair, although doing so would do absolutely nothing for it. Figaro watched him the entire time with the occasional meow as his response to any question Sora threw his direction.

"You think I'm going overboard boy?"

A long meow was his answer.

"Didn't think so."

When he heard his cell phone ring he knew Hayner and Selphie were already there. He answered it and informed the pair he would be down in a few minutes. Grabbing a white jacket from his closet, just in case it were to get cold, Sora bid Figaro farewell as he disappeared into the hallway of the condominium building. The attendant at the front desk nodded as Sora walked by, offering his "good evening" before returning to a very exciting looking crossword puzzle. Outside the skies were devoid of any clouds and the stars were shining almost as brightly as the moon was. He smiled when his eyes fell on Hayner, his academy shirt gone and replaced by a simple red fitted t-shirt. Selphie, on the other hand, had her hair curled and was wearing a canary yellow halter-top with a beaded jean skirt. And even more of a surprise was Larxene sitting in the backseat waving enthusiastically in Sora's direction.

"Hiya cutie!" the blonde senior said when Sora got into the seat next to her. "I don't think I've ever seen you in clothes like this, I must say that I'm impressed."

"You going to the party too?" Sora asked, not bothered in the slightest that she would be accompanying them.

Larxene, wearing a green sequined top with the letters "XII" on the front winked at Sora. "You bet! I'm not going to miss out on this party. I also happen to know the guy throwing it in the first place, so of course I was invited."

"Alright, so now that we're all settled, let's get going," Hayner interrupted before putting the car into drive.

The ride was rather uneventful, with Larxene and Selphie chatting amongst themselves with Sora looking out the window at the random buildings off to the sides. Hayner looked through the rearview mirror every so often, just making sure that nothing appeared wrong with his friend.

"You could have brought Riku along you know."

Sora played with the platinum crown around his neck, his fingers digging slightly against the pointy tips of the charm. "Couldn't get a hold of him, no worries."

Shrugging, Hayner didn't give it much more thought as they turned into a part of town Sora didn't visit all that often. It wasn't too much different than where he lived, although the houses were a tad bit smaller and the streets not so neat. He didn't care.

"Alright guys, I'm going to park out here and we can walk the rest of the way. I don't think there would be room up ahead anyways."

All together, the group removed themselves from the car and began walking towards a house off in the distance. Behind a pair of large black gates, a rather nice and expensive looking house stood bright with the lights protruding through every window. It dawned on the brunet that even though these people didn't go to Destiny Islands Academy, didn't mean they didn't have money. Then again, and this was him simply being a bit cocky, anyone compared to him was poor. Having billions of dollars did that to a person, despite all the good that his father Laguna had taught him as a child. Still, he appreciated what he had and didn't let his wealth get to his head. As they neared the house a pair of large looking men stood at the gates, with dozens of other people walking past them towards the sounds of the music blaring through the air. They didn't pay Hayner much attention, but simply nodded when they passed.

"Just some of the high school team football players," the blonde informed the others. "They know me."

Sora placed a hand into his pocket as they neared the house with the front doors wide open. Even though he was still standing outside, he could feel the heat pulsating through the doors against his face. It was such a familiar and comforting feeling that Sora couldn't help but sway his head the moment the song changed to something fast paced.

"You SO have to dance with me Sora," Larxene said cheerily dragging him into the house. The others were not far behind, and soon many enthusiastic moving bodies surrounded them all. There was a long series of stairs in the main room, with people covering every little inch. Despite not knowing any of the faces amongst the crowds, Sora didn't feel intimidated in the least.

"We're going to go find my friend," Hayner said rather loudly in Sora's ear in order to get it through the loud space. "We'll catch up later, have fun!"

Hayner and Selphie took off, leaving Sora to deal with Larxene at his side. "I guess I owe you a dance?"

The blonde senior smiled wickedly. "Totally."

She led them into the crowd and began moving to the pace of the music. Sora, being a natural dancer, quickly fit into the scene and moved rhythmically to Larxene's steps. He could feel the eyes of everyone around him, wondering who the hell he was. But Sora didn't care, at the moment he was engulfed by the comforting sounds of the music. All worries about his nightmares, the voices, every little thing was gone.

"My god, no wonder you and Riku don't get any sleep every night."

The brunet shot Larxene a glare and she quickly stuck her tongue out. "Kidding love, I'm kidding."

They danced for a while longer, with Larxene becoming bolder and actually touching against the brunet by the time the song finally changed. He laughed, not bothered by it knowing that Larxene did absolutely nothing for him.

"I guess I can't turn you, can I?"

Sora shook a finger at her, "Sorry, ain't gonna happen."

"Well, how about we get a drink?"

Nodding, the two walked into one of the many other rooms. Larxene swiped two red plastic cups and handed one to her dancing partner. "Cheers."

He took a sip and immediately felt a burn as the liquid sled down his throat. With a long sigh following the sip, Sora could already feel his cheeks getting red. "Vodka, should have known."

Larxene rolled her eyes. "Duh, what were you expecting, paupu juice?"

They finished downing the rest of the mixed beverage and walked back into the main room. Once again the song changed and Larxene motioned for Sora to dance.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to find Hayner and meet his friend. It'd be rude of me to be here and not bother saying hello."

"Oh fine, just be sure to come back, I'll be here waiting," she finished with a wink.

Sora spent the next ten minutes or so wandering through the house, his goal to reach Hayner and Selphie, but managing nothing by the time he finished circling the area. He ended up finding Larxene already dancing with someone else and figured he wouldn't butt in. Moving his head to the beats of the pulsating music, Sora simply continued wandering around, his fingers playing with the crown charm around his neck. He picked up a couple more cups of vodka along the way, with his 4th cup tumbling nowhere near the garbage can when he finished with it. A slight buzz settled itself in the middle of his forehead, but not something to cause alarm.

"Well isn't it my lucky night."

Sora stopped his stride, the voice sounding horribly familiar and a shooting anger coursing through his veins. When he turned, dressed in a tight zippered hooded shirt, stood none other than a blonde haired teen he thought he would never see again.

"Tidus."

The teen shot him a smile. "I'm surprised you remember my name."

"It's kind of hard to forget the name of an idiot like you."

The blonde, with a string of other boys at his sides, shook his head. "Let's not get into name calling, I haven't done anything wrong."

Sora placed a hand at his hip. "Except throw a boulder through my car window. Last time I checked Tidus, something along those lines counts as wrong."

Tidus chuckled. "Oh, that? Come on Sora that was ages ago, a lifetime ago. Can't we just forget about it and move onto bigger and better things?"

The brunet felt a smile twist its way across his lips. "You're right Tidus, I have moved onto bigger and better things. I think you remember his name, Riku."

A flash of hatred burned in Tidus' eyes before he threw his own grin in Sora's direction. "How cute, so you've somehow managed to become more than a simple whore to that bastard. I applaud your success."

Sora scoffed, yet felt the anger course thicker through his veins. "At least this whore managed to get something you couldn't."

With that said, Sora turned his back and began walking away.

"Oh is that right? Cause I've always wanted to see my mother broadcast across every television screen in the country wanted for murder. Tell me Sora, are you enjoying your rise to stardom?"

The anger boiled over and before he knew it, Sora had Tidus on the floor with a fist in his face. It took several of Tidus' friends to peel the raving brunet off of him.

"You son of a bitch, you have not fucking idea what the hell you're talking about! If only you knew what I had to go through last year you would eat those words right up!"

Tidus nursed a split lip as a river of blood ran down his chin. "You're a fucking attention whore. You want everyone looking at you, pitying you, making you feel superior. Just because I don't go to the academy anymore doesn't mean I don't know what everyone says. Everyone's heard it and they're over it, so stop feeling like you're special and need everyone to fucking pity you."

Everyone around them was watching, with the music being turned down several notches. Larxene came sprinting in and took Sora's side, her hand coming up to touch at the scratch Tidus had managed to claw against Sora's face. "What's wrong Sora, what happened?"

Sora was looking at Tidus with pure venom in his eyes. He could hear the voices returning within his mind, each one just ready to point out and laugh at his expense.

_"That's right, you're just a little attention whore."_

_"No wonder you can't do it without your little savior."_

_"And you thought nothing was wrong, my, my, were you so very wrong."_

Larxene let out a yelp the moment Sora collapsed against her. "Sora! Sora! Wake up! Come on, don't be doing this on me!"

Tidus simply snorted and walked off, the trail of people tagging behind him. "It's just like I said."

Elsewhere, a silver haired teen felt a prick of ice shoot up his spine knowing that something wasn't right.

tbc

**A/N: Don't worry you guys, it's not as bad as it sounds. Hope you liked this chapter, I sure did. Since characters I introduced towards the beginning of "Ironic Circumstances" kind of disappeared into oblivion, I thought it would be nice to re-introduce them again. Needless to say, it didn't really go well for Sora. Tidus is such a little monster. Anyways, reviews are met with lots of love! Till next time!**


	4. Chasm

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Disney, as you all are aware of.

**A/N: Despite being retarded and not fixing its stupid flaw with the alerts and whatnot, I appreciate the feedback some of you left. Don't worry, I checked and made sure to read them and I want to thank you guys. Now, I must state that I will be hinting at an upcoming pairing in this chapter, so please be kind when you realize who it will be. That aside, it's quite an interesting chapter and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, read, enjoy, and be kind.**

**Shattered Reverie**

**Chapter 4**

**Chasm**

It was a gut reaction to lash out with a free arm the moment he felt something hit against the side of his face. With a yelp, Kairi tumbled back against her large bed, the bowl of popcorn sitting in her lap no longer full as its contents sat disastrously all over her.

"Hey! I was just playing!" Kairi whined as she began picking up all the strewn popcorn littering the bed.

Riku touched the area on his face where the single bit of popcorn Kairi had thrown hit him. "Sorry, wasn't expecting that."

"Well, I was trying to get your attention, you were spacing out again," she remarked placing the bowl over on her nightstand.

He didn't doubt the fact that he was spacing out, although it was a very disturbing feeling when he felt a prickle of ice shoot up his spine. "I don't know, I got this bad feeling a second ago."

The burgundy haired teen brought both legs against her chest. "Knowing you, it's probably not just a feeling. Do you think something's wrong?"

It didn't take Riku very long to calculate what, or better yet, who was making him feel uncomfortable. He hadn't seen Sora at all since lunch hour, what with him storming off when he saw the brunet and the older man Marluxia. After he and Kairi had a latte at Café Le Blanc Kairi convinced him to come over and watch a couple of movies to take his mind off of things. Needless to say, the movies did very little to distract Riku's thoughts, but he went along with it to humor one of his friends.

"I don't know, I haven't seen Sora all day. Maybe I'm just being paranoid," he said shaking his head.

Kairi clicked a button on the television remote and the screen quickly changed to black as she rested against one of the many pillows bordering the headboard of her bed. "Why don't you give him a call? It's simple, just call him up and see how he's doing."

Riku nodded limply as he took his cell out and dialed his boyfriend's number. After several long rings his voice mail popped up and Riku quickly closed the gadget in his hand. "He always answers after the first ring, now I know something's wrong."

The blue-eyed girl pursed her lips in thought. "Maybe Selphie or the others know, although they're all probably at that party."

Riku craned his neck and shot Kairi a quizzical look. "Party? What party?"

She wasn't at all offended by the look he was giving her. "Well, if you hung around more often you would know that someone over from Balamb Garden High is throwing a party tonight. He invited a lot of people from the academy, including Hayner since he apparently knows him. Hayner wanted all of us to go along, but I wouldn't be caught dead at a Balamb Garden party."

"You don't think…"

"That they brought Sora along?" Kairi finished for him, clearly reading every thought passing through his head. "That's probably where they all are."

"Oh god, that's the last place Sora should be. I know him, he's more than likely had too much to drink and is now passed out somewhere. I have to go check it out."

Kairi suddenly got up and slipped into a pair of flip-flops by her bedroom door. Riku raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought you said you wouldn't be caught dead at a Balamb Garden party."

She rolled her eyes. "First of all, you don't know where it is. Second, if you're going to go crash it, then I am so there."

Riku zipped up his jacket and walked out the door with Kairi right on his heels.

X

He could hear mumbles all around him, yet he couldn't figure out who was speaking to him. After several long moments the voices became clearer and Larxene's usual tone was easily recognizable against the other whispering sounds.

"Sora! You're awake!"

He blinked a few times, allowing his eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the room. When he was able to see fully again, Sora found himself surrounded by Larxene, Hayner, and Selphie. The shorter brunet girl rested a hand on his shoulder and gave it comforting squeezes as he aroused from his dizzy spell.

"Thank the Faiths you're alright," Larxene blurted out letting her head hang low. "I thought we were going to have to take you to the hospital or something."

"How you feeling?" Selphie asked.

Sora brought a hand to press against his forehead, a dull pain centering itself underneath his fingers. "I'll be fine, I should have stopped after 5 drinks."

He heard Selphie let out a sigh of relief. "We should have stuck around you instead of wandering off, then what happened could have been avoided."

The spiky haired brunet looked at his surroundings quickly and realized they were all inside a dimly lit bedroom somewhere within the house. "It's not your fault, you wanted to go see your friend. I should have been paying more attention, god I'm so stupid."

Larxene let out a laugh. "But now it's the talk of the party! Everyone's talking about how you totally kicked Tidus' ass out there."

The name slid of her tongue and Sora couldn't help but hiss at the sound of it. "Don't mention that asshole. He got what he deserved, but god I wish I could have had a few more seconds with his face."

Hayner let a smile play across his lips. "This is a side of you I haven't seen before. I'm kind of afraid to ask what he could have said to piss you off this much."

Selphie shot Hayner a glare and he swiftly backed off. "He said some awful things Sora, but don't let it get to you. We all know what kind of a person Tidus is. We should be glad he's no longer going to the academy. I'm pretty sure that choice was influenced by Riku's threat last year during finals."

"Riku threatened him?" Sora asked sounding quite interested all of a sudden. "He seriously threatened him?"

The shorter girl laughed. "Oh yeah, he made it perfectly clear that he wasn't to bother you anymore. Although, after Cloud graduated there wasn't much of a reason for him to stay. I heard he broke up with him not long after heading off to college."

Sora scoffed, "Yeah, I remember you telling me about that towards the beginning of the year. I'm just glad Cloud had enough common sense to dump his ass."

There was a knock at the door and all four pairs of eyes directed their attention to the newcomer. A random partygoer entered and related the message he was asked to bring.

"There's someone downstairs looking for Sora."

"It'd better not be Tidus again," he remarked gritting his teeth.

The teen shook his head. "No, he took off. This guy has silver hair, has a girl with him."

The group looked at one another, with three of the faces looking directly at Sora.

"Shit." He said smacking his forehead. There was no way around it. Riku was waiting for him downstairs. After what happened earlier in the day, with him running off, Sora wasn't sure what kind of mood he would be finding the silver haired teen in. He still wasn't completely sure what had been up with Riku's attitude, but he figured it wasn't something of importance.

"Want us to come down with you?" Selphie asked standing up.

He took a look at them all, "If you guys wouldn't mind, I don't want to face him alone."

Larxene chuckled. "Don't tell me you're afraid he's going to be mad at you. So you went to a party, what's the big deal?"

They ignored her as the trio left the room, with Larxene being the last to leave. "Okay, so I guess it's a big deal then."

It wasn't long before the group was walking down the stairs of the large house, with the crowds of people still dancing to the loud music. Even among the dozens of faces within the crowd, it was easy for Sora to spot Riku in the masses. He was sure that Riku would be pissed off, but there was only the look of concern and worry on his face. Not waiting for Sora and the rest to reach the bottom of the stairs, Riku, and Kairi tailing behind, went up to the brunet and embraced him tightly.

"Sora, you okay? You look a bit sick, have you been drinking? Do you need me to help you to the bathroom?" Riku babbled as he held Sora's face in his hands.

The spiky haired youth pulled away with a bit of difficulty. "I'm fine Riku, I just had a bit too much to drink. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Riku could see everyone else standing behind Sora, with Larxene smiling devilishly at him. "Your boyfriend sure can dance."

If it were any other time, Riku would have simply rolled his eyes at her, but this time he couldn't help but retaliate in a not so friendly way. "Larxene, I'm not in the mood for your shit. If you were really Sora's friend you would have kept an eye on him."

The blonde senior blinked in surprise.

"And that goes for the rest of you too," Riku blurted out directing it to Selphie and Hayner. "You should have left Sora behind, he's not in the best condition to be out."

There was a bubbling feeling of anger rising in Sora's chest. "Are you saying I'm not capable of taking care of myself?"

Riku looked down to see a pair of angered looking blue eyes. "No, Sora, that's not what I meant."

"You should have kept an eye on him? You should have left Sora behind? Not in the best condition to be out? If that's not saying "not capable of taking care of himself" then tell me what is Riku?"

"Sora," Kairi interrupted, "he didn't mean it in any bad way. He came all the way down here because he knew something was wrong. Don't get angry with him."

The brunet looked over at Kairi and let out a sigh. "Sorry, but I'm getting tired of feeling like I need to be watched. I don't need anyone looking out for me, I'm perfectly fine on my own."

"Not with those dreams of yours and whatnot," Kairi said, not realizing that it would have been better if she kept her mouth shut.

Selphie, Hayner, and Larxene looked over at Riku with the brunet girl voicing their obvious question. "What's Kairi talking about? Is Sora having bad dreams or something?"

The look of anger found its way across Sora's features once more. "You told Kairi? Riku, why did you do that? I don't want them knowing!"

"Sora!" Riku bellowed out placing both hands on his shoulders. "What's the problem if our FRIENDS know about what's going on? It's been bothering me, I couldn't keep it from her."

The brunet shrugged the hands off violently. "Bothering you? So, you were lying when you said you were with me of your own free will?"

Riku wasn't sure if it was frustration or anger welling up inside him. "Don't twist my words around, I never said that."

"How can I when you made it so incredibly clear?"

Sora scoffed and walked past Riku, his shoulder brushing against the taller teen rather roughly.

"Sora!" He called out, but the words couldn't seem to pierce the sounds of the music in the background.

"Let him go," Kairi said when Riku took a step in the teen's direction. "Arguing with him now won't solve anything."

"This is your fault."

The burgundy haired girl gave him a sketchy look. "My fault?"

"If you kept your mouth shut he wouldn't have gotten all pissed off."

"Two seconds ago you were yelling at Sora asking him what the big deal was if we knew about his nightmares! Don't start blaming me for whatever you said."

Riku turned his back to the group standing at the base of the stairs. "Just leave me alone, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

With that said, Riku took off, not caring that he was Kairi's only ride home.

She was left standing at the bottom of the stairs with her eyes tearing up. "I didn't do anything wrong."

Larxene walked towards Kairi and placed an arm around her. "He knows that Kairi, he's just upset right now. He'll come around, he always does."

Kairi dabbed at her face and smiled at Larxene. "Yeah, you're right, I know Riku. It'll blow over by Monday. I just wish those two could get it through their heads that we're not some kind of monster. We're just worried about them, am I not right?"

Selphie nodded and placed another arm around her slightly taller friend. "You are. But, the way things are headed I think it's better if we just leave them alone. The more we pry, the more irritated they'll get. Whatever's going on is probably something none of us can understand. So, let's just give them space."

"I'll try," Kairi said brushing away some of her bangs, "but don't think I'll simply be all smiles knowing our friends are upset."

"You'll just have to try a bit harder then," Larxene added placing a quick peck against her temple. It shouldn't have meant absolutely anything, but a fuzzy and warm feeling passed through Kairi the instant Larxene's lips touched her skin. For a few seconds all her frustrations eased. But she shook her head at the thought as her friends offered her a smile.

"If you guys wouldn't mind, I kind of lost my ride home. Mind giving me a lift back to my place?"

Hayner nodded, having heard their conversation from the stairs. "You guys head out to the car," he said throwing Selphie his keys, "I'll be out in a second, I just have to let my friend know we're taking off."

And so, the group left the crowded and music-ridden house, escaping into the much quieter and darkened streets. The quartet got into the car, with Larxene and Kairi in the back. They drove off, with the ride being quite uneventful. Every so often though, Kairi would find herself looking in Larxene's direction, with the blonde senior offering her a smile.

X

Sora ended up storming out of the house with his feet carrying him as fast as they could. He wanted nothing more than to leave the current atmosphere, and more precisely, without Riku wandering behind him. He walked out into the darkened streets, the air slightly cool and licking at his exposed arms. There was a small group of students around his age, perhaps a bit older with lit cigarettes in their hands. As he walked past them, a head of blonde hair stood out and Sora felt that same bubbling anger well up. Soon enough, he was shooting Tidus a dirty glare with the blonde offering his own. That's when he realized that Tidus was surround by several of his friends, while Sora was on his own. For a brief second that anger turned into panic at the thought that they could quite possibly turn on him. The panic grew the second Tidus smirked maliciously in his direction.

"Fuck," Sora whispered when he heard the footsteps behind him.

"_Oh boy are you going to get it!"_

"_That's what he gets for fighting, but he's a lost cause after all."_

"_He totally deserves it though."_

Sora gritted his teeth and forced the voices to the back of his mind. The sounds of footsteps were overwhelming as it was, so listening to their taunts wasn't helping. Everything around him stopped the moment he felt a hand grab a hold of his shoulder. He closed his eyes, expecting pain, but when it didn't come, he couldn't help but look behind him. Dressed in the same outfit he had seen him earlier that afternoon, Marluxia stood tall with both violet eyes studying Sora's features.

"Marluxia?"

The older man smiled. "Didn't think I would run into you out here."

Sora looked past him and noticed that Tidus and his friends had backed off, knowing well enough that messing with Marluxia wasn't in their best interest. The blonde offered him another dirty glare before disappearing down the street.

"Friends of yours?"

Sora's attention snapped back and he felt a stifling laugh escape him. "No, just someone I would rather not see again."

He felt a hand travel up his shoulder and onto his face. Slowly, the warm fingers touched the scrape Tidus managed to give him during their brief squabble. Sora thanked the Faiths that it was dark for he could feel his cheeks go red.

"Ow," he blurted softly.

"I didn't see you with this earlier today. You don't look like the fighting type, so you either fell or perhaps I'm completely wrong."

Sora waited until the hand was removed before he spoke. "It's a long story, but I would rather not talk about it out here. I kind of have to get home."

Marluxia shrugged, "It's a Friday night, I don't have much else going on. I wouldn't mind hearing about it."

The brunet shook his head. "I don't think it's a good idea. That and I have a long walk ahead of me, so, if you don't mind."

"Why don't I just give you a ride? Can I at least do that?"

Sora kindly refused the offer. "Thanks, but I don't want to trouble you."

"I would feel bad letting you walk at this hour. I don't live far from here, why don't you come over for a while?"

Sora was finding it hard to look away from Marluxia, but he found himself staring and liking the idea of spending a bit more time with the older man. "I figured you would be living close to the academy, what with you teaching there and all."

Maluxia chuckled. "I don't blame you for assuming that, but it's way beyond my price range. Remember, I'm only a college student, so I don't have the money to blow on some fancy apartment"

Sora nodded rather dumbly. "Makes sense."

Marluxia began walking, with Sora right at his side. He still felt a bit woozy from the alcohol, but not enough to keep from carrying on a decent and comprehensible conversation. "So, what brings you out at this hour?"

The older brunet shrugged, "To you it will sound really weird, but ever since I've arrived here I can't help but take a walk during the night. You see, where I come from, we never have night."

Sora felt his eyes go wide. "Oh, that's right! You're from Twilight Town, I totally forgot about the phenomena that keep the skies from growing dark. I've read about it, but I've actually never gone there."

Marluxia chuckled. "Well, if you remember from what I told you earlier about the size of my college, it's not a very big place. It's because of the strange phenomena that our island even has business. We have visitors from all over the world coming year-round. Keeps us alive you could say."

"But still, you've never seen the night sky?"

He shook his head, "This will be my third night looking at it. It's amazing. Of course, I've seen it on T.V. but it's not anywhere near as amazing in real life."

They continued down the street, until Marluxia pointed to a pair of duplex apartments across the street. "I live on the left side. My neighbor is this crazy old lady with all these cats. I had a hard time moving in because they wouldn't get out of my way when I was bringing my stuff inside."

"I bet she'd love my cat Figaro. He's such a lazy brat, I think I've been spoiling him way to much."

Marluxia led Sora across the street and to the front door of his apartment. He brought his set of keys out and unlocked the door. He motioned for Sora to enter and soon enough, the room was flooded by artificial light. It was a sea of boxes littering every inch of space, with the living room sporting a surprisingly empty couch. Not anywhere near as luxurious as his own, but comfortable nonetheless, Sora was glad he was sitting down. It reminded him of his own predicament the previous year when he was struggling with all his belongings and the murderous boxes littering his now clean condo. While Sora dwelled on those memories, Marluxia walked into the small kitchen and pried through the refrigerator.

"I'm sorry to say that all I have right now is a bunch of bottled water and soda, haven't had the time to go shopping for actual groceries."

Sora shook a hand at him. "Don't worry about it, I'm far from thirsty, believe me."

Marluxia maneuvered his way around the boxes and sat on the other end of the couch with a can of diet Coke in hand. He took a sip, with Sora feeling the familiar nausea in his throat.

"You okay?"

Sora smiled. "Yeah fine, nothing I can't get over."

"Looks like someone got carried away with the drinks."

The shorter brunet smirked. "That obvious?"

Marluxia took another sip of his coke. "I've had my share of parties, believe me, I'm well informed and know all the details. But, I kind of outgrew those things. And with me trying to get my teaching degree, it left me with little time to actually go out."

Sora placed an elbow against the couch, with his hand supporting the back of his head. "I'm amazed that you're only 21 and you've gotten this far. It usually takes years to get those kinds of credentials."

The violet-eyed man tapped a few fingers against his leg. "Well, it's what I want to do. When you have a passion for something, it's pretty easy to get absorbed into it."

"I don't think I could be a teacher, I have a hard time with myself," Sora joked, his finger twisting around a spike of hair.

Marluxia gazed over the sea of boxes. "It kind of sucks that you aren't in any of Mr. Vayne's classes."

Sora looked over at him. "Why do you say that?"

The older man smiled. "Well, you seem to be a pretty cool and collected guy. That and you're the first one that made an effort to talk to me. The way I see it, you've become my first friend here. That is, if you consider us friends."

For the second time that night, Sora felt his cheeks go red. Yet, he didn't feel guilty knowing that he already had a significant other. More than likely due to the fact that he was still quite angry with the silver haired senior.

"Of course we're friends."

Marluxia seemed to beam at Sora's words. "If you say so."

Sora used the following space of silence to look around his surroundings. Aside from the many boxes littering every little inch of space, Maluxia seemed to already set out photographs and paintings against the bare white walls. One thing he definitely noticed were all the gardens imprisoned in the pictures.

"You definitely seem to like flowers."

Sora was surprised by Maluxia's laugh. "I know it seems weird for a guy to be interested in flowers, but I love them."

The brunet shook his head furiously. "Oh no, I wasn't thinking anything like that. Did you take the pictures yourself?"

"Sure did," the older brunet said taking another sip of his drink. "The ones closer to the front door are some of my favorites. I took them right before I left Twilight Town."

The comforting atmosphere was interrupted when someone's phone began to ring.

"Can't be mine," Marluxia said, "I haven't had it installed."

Sora dug into his pocket and located his cell phone. He eyed the name of the person calling and slipped the device back into its shadowed resting place. Marluxia followed Sora's actions with his eyes and brought them up to meet a pair of furrowed brows.

"Not going to answer it?"

"Don't feel like it. I think he needs to sit on what he said for the rest of the weekend."

A flicker of interest passed through the taller man's eyes. "And by "he" you mean?"

Sora turned with his cheeks slightly pink. "Riku, my boyfriend."

Marluxia didn't seem at all surprised to find out that Sora's significant other was male. "Oh, did you guys have a fight?"

Sora clicked his tongue. "I don't know what to call it, maybe it _was _a fight. He just went ahead and told someone something he shouldn't have. Now everyone's looking at me like I'm some fragile thing that can't do anything on his own."

"Maybe he said something because he was just worried about you," Marluxia commented, placing his can on the carpeted floor. "I wouldn't blame him if he did it based on something like that."

The spiky brunet rolled his eyes. "That's exactly what they said, but they don't have any clue as to what I'm going through. So I don't need any of them to be worrying about me, I'll beat it on my own."

Marluxia felt that whatever was bothering Sora was obviously painful for him to get so riled up. But, not wanting to further aggravate the 17-year-old teen, he simply turned the conversation in another direction.

"If you ever want to talk during school, you can always find me during lunch hour. I'm only at the academy for two days of the week, but I'll be there."

Sora appreciated the offer. "Thanks, I'll definitely keep it in mind."

He followed by eyeing the time on his cell phone, which was currently reading a bit past ten. It wasn't horribly late, but it hit him when he remembered his long walk home. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take off. I have to get back home and I need to get a head start."

"I'll give you a lift, I won't let you walk at this hour," Marluxia firmly placed out. "If something happens to you it'll be on my conscious later on."

Sora shrugged and looked away. "Thanks."

After a bit of careful maneuvering around the boxes, the two were once again standing underneath the starry black skies. Marluxia led Sora over to a small Toyota and opened the door for him.

"Sorry if it's messy in here too, just got the damn thing when I arrived."

The brunet didn't seem to mind. "It's okay."

As they drove off, unbeknownst to them, a pair of blue eyes watched the vehicle leave from the sidewalk. With both hands in his pockets, and a smirk caressing his split lips, Tidus gave the car one last look before heading off.

X

There were stacks upon stacks of papers and boxes sitting in the empty room. How long they sat there were beyond her now, for she didn't seem to care to look through any of the old files. Yet she continued standing at the door, her side resting against the entrance to the room. Perhaps, it was still hitting Brahne that her daughter, Beatrix, was no longer alive.

"What happened for you to do what you did?" The aging woman whispered as she placed a chubby hand against her face. "I don't know whether to feel grief, or anger."

Brahne was never aware of Beatrix' dirty works, nor of how truly despicable she truly was. When she saw her only daughter's face flashing across the entire capital, her heart sank. It was even harder attending the court trial not long after her arrest, although she worked very hard to conceal herself among the crowds. Seeing Sora there seemed to make the entire ordeal that much harder. It was true that she wasn't fond of the boy, knowing that he wasn't biologically Beatrix', but she still couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor kid. After her death, all of Beatrix' belongings were handed over to her and they soon accumulated within the empty room of her high story condominium. She forced herself to look through them, but there was a nauseating feeling in her stomach the moment she stepped into the crowded room that forced her away. Looking at it now, how it remained unchanged for the past seven months or so, made Brahne realize that sooner or later, she would have to look through it all.

"I guess it's now or never," she muttered taking a step inside. She could hear the yipping of her dogs, Zorn and Thorn in one of the hallways. They were more than likely wondering what was keeping their owner from them. The two pampered papillons were spoiled rotten after all. Brahne managed to find an empty spot on the bed and took an ordinary looking box into her lap. Taking a deep breath to push the nausea away, Brahne removed the lid and began leafing through Beatrix' belongings.

"Old pay stubs, receipts, credit card payments," she listed as she dug around. The plump woman continued for an hour or so, eventually stopping when she happened upon a locked jewelry box she herself bought for Beatrix' 18th birthday.

"Oh my, I thought she threw this away," Brahne said looking at the cherry tree polished box. Engraved with small pearls along the border, the woman tried prying the lid off but managed nothing in the end. Huffing in frustration, Brahne set it aside and looked through some of the nearby stacks for the key.

"She wouldn't have kept it if she didn't have the key for it."

Zorn and Thorn eventually found their way into the room and began sniffing around the papers on the floor. Brahne shooed them away, but they seemed pretty interested in their search. When one of the towers of boxes was nudged by Thorn, the monument came tumbling down and scared the dogs away. Cursing at them, Brahne got to her feet with a bit of difficulty and began setting the boxes back up. But it seemed like the Faiths were on her side that night, for she found a glittering silver key in between several of the folders. Finding the jewelry box and setting in her lap, Brahne was intent on opening it when a cold and unsettling feeling caressed her shoulders. She felt like she was spying, prying into something she knew wasn't hers. Then again, Beatrix was no longer there, and that was enough of a justification for her to open it. Turning the key one full time, the lid flew open to reveal a series of crumpled papers. She took a hold of them and leafed through the papers with her plump blue face growing to a pale color the more she looked.

"It's not possible…" her voice died out, with Zorn and Thorn's barking the only thing to pierce through the muted atmosphere.

tbc

**A/N: Be kind everyone. Hope you liked! Reviews are met with lots of appreciation. As for the ending, well, it's just something I have cooking in my head. Writing the little fight between Sora and Riku felt so…harsh to me, but it's necessary. Until next time everyone!**


	5. Awkward Situations

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, wish I did. They belong to Square-Enix and Disney. Absolutely no money is being made here, so don't sue.

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, I hit a snag along the writing process. That and I've been preparing for an anime convention I'm going to in a week. Enjoy, and once again, sorry for the delay.**

**Shattered Reverie**

**Chapter 5**

**Awkward Situations**

"_Just a few more days should do it." _Sora thought as he drove away from the academy following the last period of the day. It was Monday afternoon, and moderately warm at that. It was expected though, with summer closing in on the islands. Already the streets of the town were playing host to citizens of far off countries, flocking to these rural islands in search of something. To Sora, he couldn't figure out exactly why, but if it brought business to the people around him, then he couldn't argue against the invasion. He took a look at his book bag sitting on the passenger's seat, with his cell phone dangling from a strap attached to one of the zippers. Once again, for what felt like the thousandth time, his phone rang and the small pixilated digits appeared on the screen. Glancing at the numbers, Sora simply scoffed and returned his attention to the road in front of him.

"Get it through your head Riku, I'm not talking to you right now."

After the incident at the Balamb Garden party, where Riku decided to completely embarrass Sora, he decided giving him some space would be plenty to make him realize how much he had hurt him. He knew Riku meant well, the brunet was eternally grateful for everything he had done. But, by accusing his friends, making him sound like a weakling, it was simply something even he couldn't forgive so easily. Storming from the party, and almost becoming the victim of Tidus and his little gang of friends, Sora had grown closer to the older man Marluxia. He didn't even spend an hour at his apartment, yet it was comforting being there, talking to Marluxia and knowing that he didn't think of him as weak. There was just something so calming about the man's exterior, perhaps his violet eyes he found himself staring at every so often. Sora felt somewhat disappointed that he wasn't a senior. If he did, then class would be a lot more interesting and skipping would no longer be an option in his mind. There was a smile growing on his lips, but it was short lived the moment his phone rang again. Letting out a groan of frustration, Sora once again looked at the device, but this time reached for it when he realized the number belonged to a very important person he hadn't talked to in quite a while.

"Hey Cid," Sora said as soon as his phone was pressed to his ear.

"Howdy kiddo, how's it going? I haven't heard from ya in a while, is everythin' alright?"

Sora knew there was a lot he could tell the blonde pilot, actually, a lot he _should_ tell him, but talking about his nightmares and petty fights with his friends over the phone wasn't something he was inclined to do.

"Things are going well Cid, not a lot to tell you really. I've just been busy with my friends and everything. Loving the car you got me, everyone still gawks at me when I drive by."

There was a chuckle on Cid's side. "Well, what kind of damn godfather would I be if I couldn't get my Sora a nice car?"

Sora smiled into the voice piece as he turned on yet another street. "How's Holly City treating you? I hope the business is running smoothly."

"Oh man, are you kidding me? With Vincent here, things couldn't be any better. That man is a genius."

"That's great."

"Oh! Another thing I forgot to mention. Vincent asked me to be his best man at his wedding. Can ya believe that?"

Sora arched his eyebrow for a moment. "Wedding? Vincent is marrying Yunalesca? I thought they were only dating."

"Didn't Riku tell ya? Vincent proposed a couple months ago when he came for a visit. The wedding is gonna be sometime in the summer, most likely July or early August."

Sora narrowed his brows. _"No, Riku failed to mention that. Just another thing he hasn't told me."_ The feeling of anger towards the older boy seemed to intensify the moment he found out that Riku hadn't told him about his mother's engagement and plans to marry Vincent. He shouldn't care he really shouldn't have let it bother him, yet it did so very much. With all the nights Riku spent at his place, how could he have not told him about something so important?

"Uh, ya there Sora?"

The brunet shook his head as he arrived at the condominium complex. "I'm here, sorry, just wasn't aware that they were going to get married. That's awesome though Cid, I know you will make a great best man. You were my dad's after all."

"Well now, don't be making this old man blush ya little bastard. Another thing before I let ya go. Don't ya have a week off this month? Spring break or something, am I right?"

Sora turned the car off, grabbed his bag, and began walking towards the entrance to the building. "Yeah, the last week of April we have off. Why do you ask?"

"I was hoping ya could come to the capital or something. I'm taking some time off and wanted to do something with ya. Would that be okay? I understand if you already had plans."

Sora nodded silently at the man at the lobby counter before responding. "I didn't have anything planned yet, but that sounds like a good idea. Did you have something in mind already?"

There was a moment where another voice came into the background on Cid's part. "Sorry about that, secretary needed to give me a note. I don't have much time to explain it, but I was thinking of taking ya skiing in Mt. Gagazet. How does that sound?"

Sora's mood suddenly lifted. "You serious? You want to go to Mt. Gagazet?"

Cid chuckled loudly, "I don't know, I thought it would be a nice change from all the sun ya been getting. But, I gotta head off, I'll email ya the details later. See ya kid."

"Bye Cid," Sora replied before setting the phone back in his book bag. The elevator doors flew open and he was walking down the carpeted hall to his condo. He felt like a little kid who was just given a new toy, excited and eager to play with it. Mt. Gagazet was world famous for their ski resorts and hot springs, just thinking about it was giving him chills. Figaro came running the moment the door flew open and stopped short of his master.

"Hey boy, guess what we're doing this spring break?"

Figaro looked up at him with curious eyes.

"That's right, we're going on vacation!"

Throwing his bag aside and walking towards the refrigerator, the phone settled on top of the kitchen counter began ringing. He had no idea why he didn't have caller I.D. installed on it, but he couldn't refrain from picking up in case someone important was calling.

"Hello?"

"Sora, I-"

It only took two words before Sora was shoving the phone back into its slot. Riku just wouldn't give up, and it was starting to get rather annoying. He wasn't going to give in and go running into his arms, that was exactly what Riku wanted. He would seek Riku when he was good and ready. Although he had to admit that deep inside he was missing being around the older boy. Figaro pawed at his pants and gave Sora a saddened expression.

"I'm sorry Figaro, but this is his fault. He has to learn that I'm not weak. I don't need him to be around me constantly. He'll figure it out, and when he apologizes, then I'll talk to him."

The black and white cat batted at his whiskers before sprinting off in some direction. Standing with his arms against the counter, Sora realized that he couldn't tell anyone about his plans with Cid. Knowing the way the academy worked, everyone would know about it by the end of the day. He wasn't about to let Riku know of his plans, despite the fact that his own pride was eating at his insides.

X

Riku stared at the buzzing cell phone in his hand. It was finally dawning on the silver haired youth that perhaps Sora wasn't speaking to him, although it took literally a hundred or so unanswered calls to figure that out. Closing his eyes for a moment, he wished he could take back what he had said at the party. If he just kept his mouth shut, instead of accusing his friends and making Sora feel like a fool in front of everyone, then perhaps he could be holding Sora against him once again.

"I'm sorry Sora, I really am, so just let me talk to you."

The day had been rather unusual compared to others. First of all, when he walked into Mr. Vayne's class, instead of seeing the middle-aged man, his eyes fell on the figure of their new student teacher dressed in a pair of black slacks and sporting a white button up shirt. Ignoring the annoyed feeling in the back of his mind, Riku went about his usual routine of doodling on his notebook as Larxene belittled him with her usual taunts and dirty jokes. But, when she remained quiet and simply listened to Marluxia prattling on about the lesson, Riku knew something was definitely up. In all the time he knew Larxene, hearing nothing being spewed from her mouth was almost apocalyptic in his eyes. Not sure of what it meant, Riku waited until class was over before he took the blonde senior aside and asked his burning question.

"What's going on? You didn't say a single thing to me during class."

Larxene rested a hand against her plaid skirt. "It was Selphie's idea. She thought it would be a good idea if we left you and Sora alone. After you guys left the party, we had a talk and agreed to give you guys some space."

Riku looked at the ground below him. "I see. I'm sorry I said what I said, I was just worried."

Larxene placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gingerly. "That's what we realized. Kairi seemed affected by it more than anyone, but she's doing better. So, don't think that we're ignoring you. If you want to hang out with us that's fine too, but know that I told you this."

"Thanks," Riku replied, "but if you can let Sora know, that would be great. He hasn't spoken to me at all since the party."

The blonde girl tucked a stray hair away. "Sure, if I see him I'll let him know. Now, I'm going to go meet up with Kairi, she wanted to have lunch with me."

Surprising Riku, Larxene planted a small kiss on his cheek as she walked off, leaving Riku to muse over what she had told him. He felt horrible for accusing them, yet here they were, respecting him and giving him space. Perhaps once he reconciled with Sora he could thank them properly, together.

Riku opened his eyes to see the parking lot in front of him rather empty. He wasn't surprised when he failed to see Sora's BMW there. After calling his cell and then his home phone, and being hung up on, he knew Sora was at his condo more than likely figuring out some way to make him feel even more guilty and horrible than how he was feeling already. But, remembering what Larxene had told him earlier, he figured if he gave Sora some space, then he would come around eventually. Calling him would only aggravate him further, and that was something he couldn't afford to do. With nothing else to do but wait, Riku turned the key in the ignition and began driving away from the academy. Before long, the silver haired teen was arriving right outside his house when he noticed a black Jeep stationed in his spot. Letting out a sigh of frustration, Riku parked along the sidewalk and turned the car off. Loosing the plaid tie around his neck and grabbing a hold of his belongings, Riku made his way to the front door. But to his surprise, the door opened and Yunalesca stood at the entrance with a small smile on her face.

"What's up with the jeep?" Riku asked stopping before Yunalesca and giving her a kiss.

"There's someone here to see you. I told him you weren't home, but he insisted that he would wait for you."

Riku tossed his hair. "Someone here to see me? It can't be Hayner, he's always with Selphie and he would have told me he was coming before we left school."

The silver haired woman simply shrugged and moved so Riku could walk in. Slowly, he walked towards the living room and allowed his eyes to roam through the space before settling on the sight of a blonde haired boy. It took no more than a second for his blood to boil.

"What the hell are you doing here Tidus?"

He could hear Yunalesca gasp silently at the sudden language, but he ignored it. Tidus, dressed in a pink polo shirt and white shorts, got up from his seat and offered Riku a smile.

"I figured you would say something like that."

Riku wanted nothing more than to grab Tidus by the neck and strangle him, yet with Yunalesca standing there, that possibility was horribly shot.

"You boys talk, I'm heading over to Zanarkand's. I'll bring dinner when I come back."

Not wasting a second Yunalesca scurried towards the door, knowing that her presence would only make things more difficult for her son. Closing the door with a soft click, the house now played host to Riku and Tidus.

"I won't say it again, what the hell are you doing here?" Riku spat out.

Tidus adjusted the collar to his shirt and rolled his eyes. "I thought a year would have given you enough time to get over things. But, it's obvious that I'm the only one that's moved on."

"Save it, I don't want to hear it," Riku cut him short as he glared daggers. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here, so you better have a good reason otherwise I won't hesitate to kick your ass."

Tidus balled his hand into a fist, knowing that Riku was someone he shouldn't play with. "Easy there, I just came to tell you about a little something I witnessed the other night. I thought you would find it interesting. That is, I would be curious to know if my boyfriend was being faithful."

It took every particle of his will to not lunge forward and beat Tidus to a bloody pulp following what he had said. "What are you talking about? You're making no sense."

The blonde narrowed his eyes. "I'm making perfect sense Riku, perhaps you're the one that wasn't paying close attention to what I said. Do you think that Sora is some little saint? I should tell you, he is a feisty guy, he can definitely handle himself in a fight, I should know."

Riku felt his blood run cold. "What did you do to him?"

"Why, didn't your friends tell you? That boyfriend of yours jumped me and I couldn't help but fight back. If you look at my face, I think you can manage to see the scab on my lip where Sora punched me."

"Sora would never do that," Riku replied sounding completely sure of himself.

Tidus ran a hand through his hair and laughed, "Then you don't know your own boyfriend every well. No, let me rephrase that, you _don't _know him. I noticed a little something interesting after he left. Now, tell me Riku, but why would Sora be walking and acting all chummy with another guy if he's supposedly your boyfriend?"

"You're fucking with me," Riku cut in not liking what he was hearing.

The blonde sat back down on the couch and stretched his arms against the leather. "I'm not fucking with you Riku, I'm telling you exactly what it was I saw. I'm not making it up."

"I know Sora, more than you will ever realize. We went through some of the hardest moments in our lives together, your taunts aren't doing a damn thing to piss me off. If I know you Tidus, that's exactly what you wanted me to do. But, I know him, I know Sora isn't capable of cheating on me."

"I'm not trying to get you riled up, I just thought it would be wrong for me not to let you know about something going on behind your back," Tidus said shooting Riku a glare. "We were friends at one point if you remember, so sorry for doing something friendly."

Riku laughed, unnerving Tidus. "Friend? You thought we were friends? Come on Tidus, the only reason you ever hung around me was because you liked me. And it just ate at you that I didn't like you back."

The blonde bit down on the scab, allowing the wound to break again. "Just you wait Riku. When you find out that Sora isn't the little saint you think he is, you'll regret everything you're saying to me now. You can ignore it, or you can accept it."

With droplets of blood oozing from his wound, Tidus cupped a few fingers against his lip and got up. "And you're right, I did like you Riku. I just wish I could take back all the time I wasted trying to get you to like me. You're not worth it, especially if you're this fucking ignorant and blind."

Walking past him, and shutting the door with a heavy slam, Tidus exited the house leaving Riku to ponder over what was said.

_"He was just trying to piss me off, that's all. He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Tidus can't stand to see me happy, that's it, that's all there is to it."_

But as he stood there, he couldn't shake the feeling of what Tidus had said regarding the other guy he had supposedly seen walking with Sora. Was it true? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to let it get to him. The most important thing right now was reconciling with Sora. He wasn't about to ruin the little progress he had made. Letting out a sigh, Riku let his tie drop to the floor as he turned towards the stairs, eager to take a shower after such a tiring day.

"When you find out that Sora isn't the little saint you think he is, you'll regret everything you're saying to me now."

Shaking his head once, Riku entered the bathroom and threw the door closed.

X

Cid's secretary led him into one of the many meeting rooms within the monstrous building he was entrusted to watch over as president by Sora. He noticed Vincent sitting at the far side of the table, with the seat designated for him still empty as he made his way to it. There were a few executives there too, and Cid knew that something was up the moment he walked into the room.

"What's going on? I was in the middle of an important phone call and I get dragged out like a dog. There had better be a good explanation for this," he said looking in Vincent's direction.

Standing up, with his long black hair cascading over his black suit jacket, Vincent placed his agenda in front of him and began the sudden meeting. "Cid, we got word from one of our branches in Rabanastre that someone is buying up all their stocks. At the rate that this is happening, it's quite possible that we will lose the branch to this unknown buyer."

The blonde man gave Vincent a startled look. "That's impossible, we haven't offered the shares to anyone we don't know. How can they be selling stocks to someone we don't know?"

Vincent held a calm expression. "That is something I will look into. Don't worry Cid, I'll figure it out, but we felt it should be brought to your attention. While it's not necessarily a cause for alarm, it was definitely a wrong move on their part to sell to an unknown buyer."

Cid grunted, "See to it, now, if that's all that you needed to tell me, I have other business to attend to."

With the executives bowing slightly out of respect, Cid got up from his seat and began walking out of the meeting room, leaving Vincent to deal with the problem he had presented.

X

Sora was working on his homework when his cell phone rang again, distracting him for a moment as he took a look at the caller. The number was unknown, yet he felt the need to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Evening Sora."

Feeling a warmth pass through him, Sora immediately sat his pen down and swiveled around in his chair. "Hey Marluxia, how did you get my number?"

"You gave it to me, don't you remember?"

Sora scratched the back of his head, "Oh…I guess I just forgot. How was your first day at the academy?"

Marluxia let out a sigh on his end. "Not as bad as I thought. Once I had all my things collected it was pretty easy. Although, doing it five times in a row, class after class, can get rather exhausting. But, it's enjoyable."

"That's good," Sora replied, picking up his pen and doodling on the corner of his notebook. "I don't think I need to tell you that it's really admirable that you're doing this. Like I said, I don't know of many 21 year old people this far into their career."

"Thanks, it's nice to hear it from you."

Sora felt his cheeks redden momentarily, and thanked the Faiths that Marluxia couldn't see him. "So, umm, I should let you go then. I bet you have a lot to prepare for tomorrow and talking to me won't help you."

Marluxia laughed, "It's quite alright, Mr. Vayne gave me an outline of everything he had been doing, so I just need to read over it and give it a little of my own spin. It's not difficult really. But, there's another reason why I called."

His last sentence sparked Sora's curiosity. "Yeah? What is it?"

"Would it be to awkward if I invited you out for a cup of coffee or something? If you remember, I don't know very many people around here yet, so I thought I could buy you a drink or something."

The brunet brushed a spike away. "Like, right now?"

"Sure, if you have some free time."

"That would be nice, I need a break from all this homework I have. With spring break coming up, the teachers are really loading us up."

"Oh," Marluxia said, "I didn't realize you had a spring break so soon. I'll have to look into it when I come to the academy tomorrow. So, will you meet me up at Café Le Blanc in say, 15 minutes?"

Sora nodded, "Yeah, I'll see you there."

Hanging up, Sora got up from his seat and walked over to his closet. Taking out a black jacket and throwing it over his red shirt, Sora was pretty much ready to go. A couple of swipes through his hair later, Sora was out the door with plenty of time to spare.

"_What is he doing?"_

"_Uh-oh, looks like he's seeing another boy."_

"_Can you believe that? What about his boyfriend?"_

"_Doesn't look good, does it?"_

Sora shook his head, trying to silence the voices that suddenly decided to spring into his mind. Three days, that's the longest that they had remained silent, yet he already knew they would return. He wasn't doing anything wrong, so he wasn't sure why they decided to butt in. He was simply meeting up with a friend for a cup of coffee, there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

_"Oh, sure, that's what you think."_

_"He seriously IS completely blind."_

_"No kidding, he can't see what this guy is up to."_

"_Should we warn him?"_

_"Naw, let him deal with it on his own."_

Gritting his teeth, Sora threw his car door open and got in. With the engine running, it was enough to mute out the voices taunting him. Taking one more look in the mirror, Sora took off, the night sky engulfing everything in a pleasant darkness.

X

With Selphie spending every minute of her life with Hayner, and Sora and Riku's absence from the group, Kairi was feeling rather alone. Of course she had other friends, tons if you really counted, but none of them seemed to matter. That left Kairi with just one person over the last half-year or so, and there was a growing feeling of fondness for the slightly older girl, something she was just beginning to notice.

Kairi rubbed the spot on her forehead where Larxene had left a small kiss the previous Friday, a simple act of friendship that shouldn't have meant anything more. Yet, she felt comfortable, secure, knowing that Larxene was there for her, being more of a friend than any other person. With her last relationship going up in flames, what with Seifer never getting over his mother's involvement with the big controversy the previous summer, Kairi wasn't sure if she would ever find someone to replace him. She dated others, but nothing seemed to work out. But, it wasn't so horrible, knowing that Larxene was always there for her.

"Hello, is anybody home?"

The burgundy haired girl blinked several times as Larxene waved a hand in front of her face. "Oh, sorry, spacing out."

"I can see that, but your food is getting cold."

Kairi looked down at the food set in front of her, no longer feeling as hungry as she was. "I don't think I can finish it all, why don't you have it?"

Not arguing, Larxene dove for the pasta and began eating as Kairi sat there, within Café Le Blanc. Why they were there on a Monday night she couldn't figure out, but it did save her from being home. With her father preparing for another run at becoming mayor, it was a constant storm of politics and slogans and whatnot that she would rather not hear. Plus, it was Larxene's idea, and she went along with it.

"So, like I was trying to tell you earlier, we had a senior meeting after school to talk about what our class would be doing for spring break. Since a lot of us don't do anything during the week off, we all decided it would be fun to have a class trip somewhere."

Kairi turned in Larxene's direction, intrigued by what she was saying. "When was this decided? Doesn't it usually take months to get something like this prepared?"

The blonde girl swallowed another mouthful of pasta before speaking. "Oh yeah, but thanks to yours truly, we were able to decide on something and it won't be a problem at all."

"That being?" Kairi asked, propping her elbow on the table and using it to support her head.

"Well, my father owns a chain of hotels all over the world, so, if you think about it, it's pretty much set. I just have to suck up for a bit and he'll give in. So, we decided we would head off to Mt. Gagazet for some fun in the snow."

Kairi let her jaw drop. "Are you serious? That's so unfair, I love Mt. Gagazet, they have one of the best spas there, I'm so jealous!"

Larxene smiled. "But who said you couldn't come along?"

The younger girl looked up with shiny eyes. "Me? Really? But isn't this a senior only trip?"

"Yeah, but it's thanks to me that it would happen at all, so there shouldn't be a problem with anyone if you came along. So, what do you say, you coming?"

But before Kairi could say anything, her eyes traveled to the front door of the café and in came a familiar face. Yet, she wasn't expecting to see an older and quite attractive looking man at his side.

"What?" Larxene asked turning her head just slightly. Dropping her fork, Larxene could only watch as the seating hostess brought Sora and Marluxia over to a table not far from where they were. Out of nowhere, Larxene suddenly ducked her head and hunched her shoulders in an attempt to hide herself despite it achieving minimal success. But, it seemed like they hadn't seen her and she looked up at Kairi.

"That's Marluxia, the student teacher filling in for Mr. Vayne," Larxene whispered.

Kairi could only stare at the way Sora smiled, genuinely smiled at the older man. It took several minutes for the realization to kick in before Kairi narrowed her eyes.

"Does Riku know about this?"

The blonde senior looked at her with confused eyes. "What? You don't think…"

"That Sora is hanging out with Mr. Delicious over there? It's a bit obvious Larxene, I don't like the feeling I'm getting. Why is Sora out with him?"

The older girl shrugged, "I don't have a clue, I didn't even know that they knew each other. Sora isn't a senior so he doesn't have any classes with him, so I'm just as lost as you are."

Watching carefully, and being sure that they weren't seen, the two girls watched as the two interacted. She knew she shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, but seeing Sora all happy while Riku was more than likely sulking off somewhere was eating at her. And there was no way she could just walk up to them and cause a scene. No, she was much to smart to do something so stupid.

"I wonder if that's why Sora hasn't talked to Riku since Friday. Riku told me that they haven't spoken once since then. Now I'm beginning to think that maybe it's because of this little thing going on," Larxene expressed pointing discretely at the pair.

"Let's not assume anything Larxene," Kairi replied, although it was very tempting to do so. "So far they haven't done anything that would incriminate Sora of doing something behind Riku's back."

_"My god, Sora, you better prove my doubts wrong."_

tbc

**A/N: Boy, I can definitely see some drama happening later on. Hope you enjoyed reading. Reviews are appreciated. Probably won't update until after my anime convention. So, till next time lovely readers. **


	6. Thankful

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the plot. Suing me will get you absolutely nothing.

**A/N: I'm back everyone, sorry for the long wait. Work and my own lack of motivation has really brought me down. So, enjoy everyone, and I apologize if this chapter isn't the absolute best. **

**Shattered Reverie**

**Chapter 6**

**Thankful**

"This totally goes against what we agreed on."

Kairi placed a hand at her hip and gave Selphie a cock-eyed glance. "What do you mean?"

Selphie looked over at Hayner for support, but he simply tossed his hands in the air letting her know that he wasn't going to get involved. Huffing at his lack of support, Selphie returned the look Kairi was giving her.

"We agreed to give both Riku and Sora space. And while I don't necessarily see anything wrong with Sora becoming friends with Marluxia, your idea of keeping an eye on them is ridiculous."

Kairi rolled her eyes, realizing that it would have been better if she didn't tell Selphie about what she and Larxene had witnessed the previous day at Café Le Blanc.

"I told you Larxene, it would have been better if we just kept it between us."

Selphie narrowed her eyes. "You would seriously betray Sora's trust in you by spying on him?"

Kairi turned to Selphie. "I'm doing this because I TRUST Sora. It's that Marluxia guy that I don't feel so good about."

"That doesn't justify anything," Selphie said getting to her feet. "If you do this and Sora finds out then the chances of him returning to our group are completely shot. And what about Riku? How do you think he'd feel knowing you're spying on his boyfriend?"

The burgundy haired girl was beginning to think if Selphie truly was her best friend. "I'm doing this for Riku's sake too."

Selphie crossed her arms. "Then why don't you go tell him about this then. If what you're saying is true, then he'll have no problem with you spying on Sora."

Kairi bit her lip, realizing Selphie had cornered her. "I don't need your permission to do anything, so save your breath Selphie."

"If you're planning on going through with this, then I have no choice but to tell Riku what you're up to."

Blue eyes narrowed dangerously in Selphie's direction. "Selphie, you're one of my best friends, but don't think that I won't make your life miserable because of it. I'm worried about Sora's well being, and if it means keeping an eye on him, then I'm going to do it."

"Kairi," Larxene interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I agree with Selphie. I don't want Sora finding out about this and becoming more distant than he already is."

It felt like a slap to the face to hear this from Larxene. "You saw it too Larxene! That guy is up to no good and I'm not about to let Sora get hurt!"

The blonde senior shook her head, "I know it looked bad, but we all know Sora is not capable of anything shady. And we don't know Marluxia, so we can't assume these kinds of things."

Kairi shook her head, "I don't believe this. Am I the only one that cares about Sora and Riku? Can't you guys see that I'm willing to do this because I love them as much as I do?"

Selphie began to walk away and into the halls, with Hayner lagging behind. "If you really love them, you wouldn't coming up with these crazy ideas. I'm sorry Kairi, but you're on your own with this."

Without another word, Selphie and Hayner vanished into the halls, leaving Larxene and Kairi in the courtyards. The junior year girl let out a sigh as she sat on one of the benches. Larxene played with the hem of her skirt, wondering if Kairi was angry with her.

"Come on, let's just forget about what we saw last night. Nothing is wrong. Let's just give everyone time and they'll come around."

"Leave me alone Larxene, I don't want to talk to you right now."

The senior girl huffed in annoyance. "Oh come on Kairi, stop acting like such a little kid, I'm not doing anything wrong here."

"Except you totally let me down back there."

Larxene felt her insides twist suddenly. "I'm sorry Kairi, but I agree with Selphie."

With that said, the bell rang signaling the end of their lunch hour. Larxene watched Kairi for a few more seconds before turning and walking towards the halls. The junior year girl couldn't help but lash out at her friend, even though she knew she would regret the words later.

"You can have fun at Mt. Gagazet without me Larxene, I'm not going."

The blonde's eyes quivered suddenly, causing her to turn away and disappear into the halls completely. With everybody returning class, Kairi was left alone within the courtyard, her mind elsewhere as she tried to come up with a way to justify her thoughts. While what her friends had said was true, part of her couldn't give up on the idea that Sora's well being was at risk if she didn't look out for him. A soft clicking sound interrupted her thoughts as she raised her gaze to the source of the noise. Blue eyes narrowed at the sight of Marluxia, his arms full of books he had undoubtedly used during one of his classes. Just looking at him brought out a hidden anger within the burgundy haired girl. She knew he was very attractive, the lines of giggling girls and shy looks from some of the boys even was enough to bring this to her attention. Yet, she was immune to it, she could see beyond the good looks and know that there was something strange about him. It was that uncertainty that worried her. For all she knew, Marluxia _could_ be a good person and not mean Sora any harm, but she was at odds. With no desire to go to class, Kairi felt a drive alone could clear her mind, at least for the moment. A small smile played across her lips, knowing that she was doing exactly what Sora had been doing and skipping class.

The drive eventually ended at one of the many beaches littering the island. Children were playing eagerly at the water's edge, parents were busily catching up on some much needed reading, and visitors foreign to Destiny Islands were already making their presence known. Stepping out of her shoes, Kairi dug her feet into the warm sands and began walking around, not really paying any attention to the other residents making the beach their current home. Breezes picked up every so often, carrying a flock of tropical birds with it in the skies above. Their cries could be heard for miles and the junior year girl found herself looking up at the multicolored creatures.

"Didn't expect to see you here."

Kairi quickly followed the voice and wasn't sure how to react at what she saw. Dressed in baggy white shorts and a teal colored t-shirt was Tidus. She knew all about what had happened at the party despite the fact that she wasn't there when the incident occurred. But that didn't stop her from gaining a further dislike for the blonde boy currently giving her a smile.

"Neither did," Kairi responded flicking her hair in a nonchalant manner.

She could hear his footsteps, muffled by the sand that stopped right at her side. Kairi peered to the right, knowing that Tidus was standing there and wasn't exactly happy with it.

"Unless you have something to say, I'd appreciate it if you left me alone."

"What is it with people these days? Can't I be nice without having to be told to go away?"

"Perhaps if you weren't such a disgrace to humanity, then people would bother with you."

Tidus chuckled slightly at this. He had his fair share of insults, but never had he been referred to as a "disgrace to humanity."

"So I throw a boulder through someone's window and I can't ever be forgiven for it. Yet, there are hundreds of criminals that commit horrible acts and are let free, forgiven. Am I the only one that sees something wrong here?"

Kairi turned to Tidus, her blue eyes glaring at the taller blonde boy. "Maybe if you didn't pick a stupid fight with Sora, maybe we wouldn't completely hate you."

The blonde teen shook his head. "Sora, Sora, Sora, why is everyone so fucking obsessed with him? What's so great about him? I was your friend much longer before he came around."

Kairi could almost laugh at this. "We were never friends Tidus. If anything, Riku was the only one that ever bothered with you. And it killed you that he didn't like you back."

A flash of heat spread across Tidus' face, clearly signaling that what his former classmate had said was true. "And you're just some stuck up daddy's girl that thinks she's too good for anyone."

"So what if I am? At least this daddy's girl has friends who actually like her."

Tidus' eyes quivered suddenly. "That's right, you have friends that matter, friends that care about you. I guess that's our biggest difference."

For a fraction of a second Kairi felt the smallest sense of pity for the blonde. "It's your own fault Tidus. You lost the only friend you had because you couldn't deal with the jealousy. If you hadn't, then maybe you could have been part of our group."

"Well, it's not like I can change the past. If anything, I've tried to make amends but if Riku won't listen to me, then there's no point to anything."

"What are you talking about?" Kairi asked, "When did you see Riku?"

"Yesterday, I went over to his place to talk to him."

"About what?"

Tidus shot Kairi a grin. "Well, aren't you pushy? No wonder everyone was afraid of you. You could find anything out and use it against them."

Kairi shook her head, "Shut up Tidus, why did you go see him?"

The grin disappeared. "After the party I was pretty pissed off with what happened. I saw you and Riku drop by and thought it was weird when Sora left alone. I thought I would finish off what I started with him, but I didn't get my chance."

"You were going to do something to Sora?" Kairi said inching closer, her teeth clenched tight.

Tidus took a step back. "I told you, I was pretty pissed off. I couldn't help it."

Kairi bit back the need to deliver pain to the taller boy, having heard that his intentions to cause Sora harm went beyond the incident at the party. "So what stopped you then?"

The blonde shrugged, "I don't know his name, but this guy came up to Sora and I left before he decided to get involved."

"You're a coward, you know that?" Kairi said looking to the side. It took a few more seconds for what Tidus said to really hit her. "What guy are you talking about?"

"I already told you, I don't know his name. I've never seen him. Plus, he looks like he's been out of high school for a while."

Kairi tucked a stray hair away. "But how does this have anything to do with Riku?"

Tidus laughed. "You sure are slow, aren't you? If Riku and Sora are together, why would Sora leave the party alone knowing Riku was there and headed off with another guy? I went to see Riku to tell him what I saw. Sora isn't the little saint he thinks he is."

She knew why Sora had stormed off from the party, but she was never expecting to hear that he had met up with someone else.

"You are so full of crap and you know it," Kairi responded, not wanting to believe what Tidus had told her. "You just can't get over that he doesn't like you."

"I'm over it Kairi, I don't care anymore," Tidus shrugged, his eyes downcast. "Believe me or not, I am done. I left the academy because I knew this would happen. You think I'm the one at fault for everything, but how would you feel if everyone was ganging up on you?"

The shorter girl watched as Tidus began walking away, his back to her. "I'm sorry if I bothered you. Maybe you can figure out if something's going on before Riku gets hurt. If you ever see Sora with a guy with long brown hair, you'll know who I'm talking about."

It hit her harder than she would have liked. With Tidus' vanishing figure, Kairi was left with her words caught somewhere in her throat.

_"Long brown hair…"_

X

"And so, that is the reason why I have called you down here, Ms. Yunalesca."

Mr. Seymour, head of Destiny Islands Academy sat back in his chair, having gone over a long conversation with the silver haired woman currently sitting in front of him. She wore a loose white blouse and blue business skirt, the hem just reaching a bit past her knees. In front of her, resting on the principal's desk sat a series of papers she found herself looking through.

"I see. I didn't realize it was this serious."

The blue-haired man bent forward slightly and cupped his hands together in thought. "It is quite serious. As I've said, Riku is on the verge of failing his classes. Which has always struck me as odd considering he's one of the top students in his year. But the papers don't lie, your son has been absent from several classes a numerous amount of times."

Yunalesca placed a finger on one of the pages. "It seems he leaves right after lunch, but is here for the three classes before. Have you noticed if he has left alone?"

Mr. Seymour raised a long blue eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

The tall woman had her hunches, but figured she would ask. "I've got my own reasons sir, but is Riku the only one that has been absent from classes?"

"There are several students that skip class, but the majority are lost causes and I haven't bothered to look into it. But, if it would make you happy, I will take a look at our files."

Turning around in his chair, Seymour reached for one of the file cabinets to the side and began leafing through several heavy folders holding every kind of file imaginable. Yunalesca simply watched with a kind expression as the principal looked.

"Let's see…" he muttered, "Just all the typical students from what I can see."

He was about to close one of the folders when a particular picture stood out and Yunalesca's eye followed it. "What about that one there, the last one on that list?"

He flipped back and his eyes fell on the spiky haired form of Sora Loire. "Hmm…interesting."

Yunalesca's lips curved into a small smile. "What is it Mr. Seymour?"

"I don't know how I could have missed this, but it seems that Sora has been missing from classes far more often than Riku has," he said with a finger on his lips. "But it could simply be a coincidence ma'am."

"Right, of course," Yunalesca finished, knowing very well that it was no coincidence. "I thank you for informing me about all of this. I will make sure to have a talk with my son and see if we can't get to the bottom of this."

She carefully got up and smoothed out the wrinkles on her skirt. Mr. Seymour got to his own feet and walked the middle-aged woman to the door and made sure to shake her hand gingerly.

"Thank you for coming."

"Not at all, good day."

Yunalesca closed the door behind her and began walking out of the academy office. She glanced at the clock sitting over the secretary and noticed it was just a bit past one o'clock. Coming to stop before stepping out of the office, Yunalesca turned to the blonde, spectacled secretary and coughed.

"Excuse me, could I ask you a question?"

The blonde woman, Ms. Quistis immediately shuffled whatever paperwork was on her desk and offered her a smile. "Why of course, what can I do for you?"

"Would it be possible for you to look up the class a particular student is in at the moment?"

Ms. Quistis pushed the rim of her glasses against the bridge of her nose. "Oh yes, just give me the student's name and I will look it up."

Yunalesca smiled. "Sora Loire."

A few keystrokes on her computer later, Ms. Quistis was handing Yunalesca a piece of paper with a classroom number and a guest pass. "There you are, please bring the pass back once you are finished with your business."

"Will do, thank you very much," the silver haired woman expressed with a nod of her head. With swift steps, Yunalesca made her way through the prestigious school grounds, her destination being of Ms. Flora's history class. Once she was standing outside the classroom door, Yunalesca performed a quick knock and then followed by turning the knob ever so softly. Immediately, at least 15 pairs of eyes fell on her, wondering who she could be. Ms. Flora stopped writing on the board and beamed at the silver haired woman.

"Oh, is there something I can help you with?"

Yunalesca scanned the classroom, the air slightly musky with the smell of aging books. When she found a familiar head of spiky brown hair, Yunalesca responded.

"May I speak with Sora please, I need him for a few minutes."

The class turned in Sora's direction, who at the moment, was looking out the window with blank eyes. He remained that way until Ms. Flora went up to him and tapped his shoulder gently.

"Dear, there's someone here that would like to speak with you."

Sora's attention quickly snapped to the front and fell on Yunalesca. All that he could feel was confusion at the sight of the smiling woman. "Oh, o-okay."

The chair skidded against the floor roughly as Sora got up and walked towards the door. Yunalesca greeted him with a silent hello before bidding Ms. Flora farewell. "I promise, it won't be long."

Outside, the winds began to blow, sending strands of that familiar silver color into Yunalesca's face. Sora stood against the wall, his eyes following a speck of dust on the ground. He had no idea what she wanted with him, but he wasn't about the start talking until she did.

"It's nice to see you Sora," she said after a minute or so of lingering silence. "I haven't seen you in a long while, how have you been doing?"

The brunet shrugged, the collar of his shirt flapping against his neck with every passing breeze. "Good, I guess."

Another moment of silence followed. Sora found that he was nervous with her standing there. In all the time that he knew Riku and his mother, there was never a time where he was talking with just her. It was a very odd feeling to say the least.

"I know Riku must have told you all about it by now, but Vincent and I are going to be getting married in late summer."

Sora scoffed, his gaze still at his feet. "Yeah, I know."

Yunalesca placed a hand against one of the walls. "You know, Sora, I apologize for saying this, but you don't seem to be your normal self. Are you sure you've been doing okay?"

Dark blue eyes crawled up Yunalesca's form. "I'm sorry that you think that, but I'm fine, really."

He was fooling absolutely nobody. Yunalesca could see it in his very eyes that there was a lot on his mind, a lot having to do with her very own son. "I don't know what exactly is bothering you, but I can safely say that whatever it is, it's also affecting Riku."

Sora couldn't help but get angered with her words. "Don't you think I know that? I know that what's been going on is hurting him too, I think about it every single day!"

"Is that why Riku has been staying with you from time to time, because of whatever is making you feel this way?"

The brunet brought a hand over his eyes. "Don't worry, he hasn't been over in a while, so you don't have to worry about him not coming home."

Yunalesca shook her head. "I never disapproved of him staying with you, in fact I expected it. But…I get the feeling that you and Riku aren't on good terms, right?"

Memories of the party the previous weekend surfaced in his mind, causing Sora to grip the wall he was standing against. "I don't know…I guess we aren't. But it's partly his fault."

"You don't have to tell me, but what I can tell you is that it's eating away at you and Riku. It doesn't take an expert to see this. When I walked into the classroom, I could see it all over your face. You're unhappy, and it's not because of whatever Riku did to upset you, but because you miss him."

Sora's head snapped in Yunalesca's direction. She was right, she was absolutely right. It had been only a few days since the party, yet it was much too long to be away from him. But he didn't want to seek Riku out, not when he kept telling himself that he wasn't week that he didn't need to depend on others. It was his own pride that was eating at him, his own determined pride to prove to everyone that he didn't need someone else holding his hand. But Riku wasn't there to hold his hand, and even if he was, Riku was doing it because he wanted to, not because he felt pity for Sora. The brunet could almost laugh at his own stupidity.

"I do miss him," Sora whispered into the air. "And I know he does too."

Yunalesca closed the gap between them and embraced the shorter boy. Sora found that the hug was warm, almost exuding a calming aura. With Beatrix, the hugs were rare and meaningless. But this one meant something. Yunalesca was letting Sora know that things were okay, that she loved him as one of her own. Or at least, that's what he was hoping. She was the kind of mother he wished he had. But a quick flittering picture of Raine reminded him that he did have someone like her. Even if she wasn't alive anymore, it didn't mean that her love for him as a mother had ended. Pulling away from the embrace, Sora ran a hand through his spikes and took in a deep breath.

"Thanks…"

Yunalesca smiled kindly at him. "I did nothing, you found the answers on your own. They were there, buried behind that sadness that shouldn't be anywhere on your face."

Sora returned the smile, "I'd better get back to class, I haven't been doing so well these last couple weeks. I need to catch up."

The silver haired woman nodded. "When you see Riku, tell him to do the same."

With a wave, Yunalesca disappeared into the halls, leaving Sora against the wall. He looked down at his hand, watching how the sunlight placed shadows against it.

"I'll talk to him, I'll apologize for being an idiot. I was so afraid of hurting him because of the nightmares, but he's strong, stronger than I am. Me being distant, it all affects him, it's not what I should be doing. Instead…I need to thank him for it. Thank him for being there and dealing with everything I go through. No more whining, I need to be thankful and be strong for him."

With his newfound courage, Sora walked back into class and sat back in his seat. And this time, he didn't let his eyes wander blankly out the window.

X

Riku couldn't rid himself of the nagging feeling in the back of his mind. The last class of the day was spent looking out the window, his thoughts concentrating on a particular brunet he hoped was doing okay. But asides from that, there was something else, a feeling of something bad about to happen. Shaking the morbid thoughts away, Riku left the classroom as soon as the bell rang, signaling freedom to all at the academy.

"Make sure to go over all your notes, we'll be having a test a week from Friday just before spring break. Have a good day."

With the teacher's final words, Riku walked into the halls and towards the parking lot. Along the way he was met with several glances and hellos from fellow classmates, all eager to get on with the rest of their day. Off in the distance the blitzball team was readying up for practice, with the coach already at the gym doors waiting impatiently for his team. It reminded him of another particular person, someone who also played blitzball and was quite good at it. The memory only soured his already uneasy mood, remembering the strange conversation he had with Tidus the previous day. Instead of wasting energy thinking about the blonde, Riku used to quickly arrive at the student parking lot. Although, what he saw lifted his spirits in so many ways. Standing against his white Audi was none other than Sora himself. Even better was the fact that Sora wasn't scowling at him. With only a few feet between them, Riku wasn't sure if he should say anything just yet. But he didn't need to.

"Hey Riku."

"Hey."

It was all they needed before Sora flung forward, embracing Riku in a very needed hug.

"I'm sorry Riku, for what I said at the party and for being so stupid."

Riku caressed the back of Sora's neck, inhaling the scent he had grown very fond of. "I am too, for not believing in you. You're not weak, and you have never been."

They remained that way for a while, using one another to fill a void that was in desperate need of being filled.

"It's because of your mom, she pulled me out of class today and talked to me. She made me realize that I've been really selfish. I haven't told you how much I appreciate everything you've done for me. For being there all those nights where I've woken up screaming. I don't think I have ever said thank you."

Riku's first thought was why Yunalesca would be at the academy, but the thought was dwarfed by Sora's words. He had never expected Sora to thank him, not when he wasn't looking for praise to begin with. Riku was Sora's boyfriend, and he didn't need Sora to praise him for simply being what is expected of a boyfriend. Yet, hearing it made him smile nonetheless. Sora removed himself from Riku momentarily, but in order to step up and capture his lips in a swift kiss.

"No more parties for me, I promise," Sora said with a wink.

Riku couldn't help but laugh. "Next time, we'll go together."

Everything would have appeared perfect, but neither were aware of the long haired man standing at the steps of the academy, his violet eyes burning a hole into Riku's figure. A cell phone rested against his ear, a charm dangling from the device.

"I already told you, I'm not going back until I am finished here."

There was some talk on the other side, causing Marluxia to roll his eyes. "I don't know how long it will take, so quit asking already. Just keep doing what I told you to do, no more questions."

He watched as Riku and Sora shared another kiss. "I'll do it, I'm sure of it. We're already too involved in things."

The person said one last thing before Marluxia closed the phone, a grin caressing his lips.

"Trust me Zexion, I will destroy their lives."

TBC…

**A/N: It seems, Marluxia isn't exactly wanting friendship. Until next time lovely readers, please r&r!**


	7. A Family

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or Disney.

**A/N: It's been a while everyone. Sorry if I haven't been doing a great job with my updates. But, I want to thank all those that leave me feedback and let me know how much they like my writing. And more than anything, thanks for being patient everyone.**

**Shattered Reverie**

**Chapter 7**

**A Family**

Everything seemed perfect once Sora and Riku made up, and the two were hoping to join their group of friends at the usual spot within the courtyard of the academy. But things didn't seem at all right the minute they stepped in what could no longer be called a circle, but a dilapidated ring split in half. Sora looked to one side as Riku looked towards the other. Larxene sat on one of the benches farthest away from everyone else, her finger twisting around one of the two fractions of hair that continued to defy the laws of gravity. Kairi sat on the ground several feet away from the blonde, her face devoid of that usual smile and sarcasm. Selphie and Hayner sat by the base of the tree, their hands intertwined as they talked amongst themselves, everyone completely oblivious to the fact that the two people they were all so worried about were standing there with confusion coursing through their faces.

"Hi," Sora said for lack of anything else to say. Immediately all four pairs of eyes flew up and met with his, softening at his sight and offering him a quick smile, that is, except one particular person. Kairi got up from her earthy seat on the ground and went up to the two boys. Sora was expecting a hug or something of the sort, but what came next was something nobody was expecting.

"_CRACK!"_

It stung. Sora couldn't help but take a step back following the powerful strike that would surely leave a mark against his cheek. Immediately there was a numbing, tingling sensation spreading across his reddening skin. The brunet could only watch his friend with wide eyes, surprised and completely shocked at what had just happened. But through that surprise he could see that Kairi was in tears, and there was a horrible feeling developing in the pit of his stomach.

Riku snatched Kairi by the wrist and jerked her every which way before yelling directly into her face.

"Have you lost it Kairi? What the fuck was that?"

Kairi winced at how firmly Riku was holding onto her wrist.

"Answer me!"

"Stop it!"

Larxene made her way over and struggled against Riku's large, domineering hand in hopes of releasing Kairi's wrist. Snarling at her, the silver haired teen let go and swept back to Sora's side, an arm encircling the brunet as he watched the two girls back away. Selphie and Hayner were already on their feet and carefully watching the burgundy haired girl's movements. In a much calmer tone, Riku voiced his stored anger.

"I don't understand you Kairi. How could you do something like that? More importantly, why?"

Kairi wiped drying tears from her face. She could feel Larxene's hand moving in circular motions across her lower back. It was soothing, and that's all that mattered.

"What I don't understand is how can you be so blind Riku?"

"Blind to what?" He responded with his voice rising momentarily.

Kairi's eyes moved from Riku to the person she had thought was her friend. She felt so stupid, so incredibly stupid for caring at all about him. All the time she spent worrying and wondering if he was okay, it was all for nothing and it was eating away at her. She wanted to deny that Sora could be capable of such a thing, but she knew better. But what was worse was the fact that Riku seemed oblivious. Kairi never would have thought the day would come when she would have to thank a particular blonde boy for confirming the suspicions that dwelled in her mind. Sora wasn't what he appeared to be.

"I said blind to what?" Riku repeated with a pause after every word.

"Kairi, no, leave it as it is."

Riku whirled towards the voice and found Selphie taking a step forward.

"Just apologize and leave it as it is. We should be glad to have them back. We need to go back to that group we used to be."

It started slowly at first, but it eventually escalated into a full-blown laugh. Everyone watched as Kairi kneeled with an arm around her side and the laughter continued.

"What is wrong with you?" Hayner asked, a bit alarmed with Kairi's sudden burst of unexpected laughter.

"Oh Selphie, you've got some high hopes, don't you? Don't you see," she said getting back up and wiping away tears, "that we can never go back to that same group we used to be? I mean, when I asked for your support, you backed out. All of you backed out and left me alone. What kind of friendship is that?"

Selphie shook her head. "Because we wouldn't support some crazy idea you mentioned? You were going against everything that IS friendship. How can you be standing there attacking us when you're the one with the messed up ideas?"

Kairi grit her teeth. "I told you before I was doing it because I _CARED_ about them, I wanted both of them to not get hurt. But I was wrong!"

Selphie looked to Hayner, unsure of what she meant. Larxene had left Kairi's side and returned to the bench she was originally sitting at. The junior year girl took a step towards Sora, only to be blocked by Riku's outstretched arm.

"How can you continue protecting him, Riku?"

It didn't take him two seconds to respond to that question. "Because I love him."

Kairi didn't know how to retaliate against that. Instead, she let her head hang as she backed away. "I'm sorry Riku, but when you realize what he's doing, you'll never doubt me again."

Taking her bag in one hand, Kairi sped off, leaving the already broken ring in a worse state than it was before. Riku heaved a sigh and turned to Sora.

"You okay?" He asked, his expression softening and exuding kindness.

He brought a hand to his red cheek and touched it carefully. Sora flinched at the touch for a moment, but warmed into it. With his back turned to Larxene and the other two, Riku voiced what he was currently thinking.

"There's something you all know, and you're all going to tell me what it is."

It seemed that arguing back would do everyone, absolutely no good.

X

Kairi had never felt such a twisted mix of anger, sadness, and overall betrayal before. The halls around her echoed loudly with every step she took. Several passing students gazed at her with vague expressions, some almost wanting to ask if there was something wrong. But they remained quiet, allowing Kairi to brisk through the academy without being bothered. Yet, unbeknownst to them, she wished somebody would stop and ask how she was doing, ask what was on her mind. Or better yet, she wished there was someone who would take her side. A flittering image of Larxene passed through her mind and she found herself wanting to burst into a fresh batch of tears. With all her current thoughts distracting her, Kairi didn't notice the figure in front of her and ended up bumping against it and dropping her bag.

"Sorry," she said picking up her things and not bothering to see whom the unlucky person was.

"Hey, wait up."

Looking over her shoulder, Kairi saw the person she collided with holding something in his hand. "What is it?"

"This fell out of your bag, thought I should let you know."

Kairi took whatever was in his outstretched hand and thanked him before resuming her pace. She glanced down at the small photograph in her hand, a face she hadn't seen in quite a while looking up at her with a cool expression. He had an arm around Kairi, who at the time had pink highlights in her hair. She couldn't help but smile at the person in the photograph and realized how much she actually missed him.

"_I can't call him, not now."_

But with everything going the way it was, going back to _that _person didn't seem like such a farfetched idea. At least, perhaps, he would hear her out.

X

School was not the right setting for a serious conversation, so Selphie offered to have everyone over after classes in order to answer Riku's demands. Selphie and Hayner were already home by the time Riku and Sora had arrived, with the older boy in the driver's seat. Larxene sat in the back, quiet and rather melancholy. Knowing her wild and sarcastic nature, Riku felt a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach seeing the blonde senior so serious. Whatever they were hiding, the nature of it couldn't be good if Larxene was acting this way.

"Let's go in," Riku said getting out of the car.

They walked into the spacious house to see Selphie and Hayner sitting in the living room, a tray of drinks already lined up on the coffee table. Selphie followed their movements and pointed at the empty seats around her. Once everyone was situated, things became eerily quiet. Sora sat next to Riku, his fingers playing with one of the buttons on the end of his shirt. Riku had long since taken his tie off and a bit of his neck was exposed. Larxene sat the farthest away in a recliner, her hand cupping her chin in thought.

"So," Selphie began, unsure if it was all right for her to speak, "thanks for coming over Riku, Sora."

"Let's just get to it, I want to know why Kairi is acting the way she is, you all know why and I feel like you're just dangling it in front of my face," Riku said rather bluntly.

Selphie looked to Hayner, then to Larxene, and finally back to the two boys sitting in front of her. "Well…"

"I'll tell them Selphie."

The brunet girl looked at her blonde friend and nodded after a few seconds. "Okay."

Larxene took in a breath and prayed for the best. "This has to do with Marluxia."

Riku's face immediately darkened. "What?"

The blonde senior held up a hand. "Hear me out. You can yell at me after I'm done."

With no further protests from Riku or anybody else for that matter, Larxene continued.

"A while ago Kairi and I went out for dinner. We headed to Café Le Blanc and when we were there, we saw something that looked a little weird. I mean, I thought it was weird because it was during the time you guys weren't speaking with each other because of that party. And well…Kairi and I thought it didn't look to good seeing Sora and Marluxia there together."

Sora looked up following what Larxene had said. "You were there?"

Larxene nodded. "We weren't following you or anything, so don't feel like we were spying on you. After that, Kairi started suspecting…well, you know."

Sora, who appeared calm and quiet, did a complete reversal. "What? That I was cheating on Riku with Marluxia? Are you kidding me?"

"I told you, it didn't look good to see you guys together, it's kind of hard not to assume something like that," Larxene replied, feeling the bitter bite in Sora's words.

"Friend don't assume things like that Larxene, " Sora spat out, clearly angry by what she had revealed to him. "I have been faithful to Riku since we've been together, you have no idea of all the shit we went through last year. How can you think that I could do something like that? You're no better than Kairi."

Larxene's eyes quivered. "That's not fair Sora! If anything, I've tried to make her see how stupid her suspicions were. Selphie, Hayner, even me, we all know that you couldn't do something like that. When Kairi told us about her idea of spying on you, we were all against it. We knew it wasn't something we could do, not as your friends."

"She's right Sora," Hayner added in, "We told her that she was on her own. We weren't going to be a part of something that horrible."

Sora's sudden anger seemed to disappear, but the damage had been done. "So she thinks that I'm not being faithful to Riku…"

"Sora…" Selphie trailed off.

"I could care less what she thinks," Riku said after a minute of silence. "Let her think what she wants, I don't have to question Sora's fidelity."

He wrapped an arm around Sora's shorter form and brought him closer to his chest. Sora seemed to ease at his touch, the look on his face softened and peaceful.

"We're sorry it went this far," Selphie said folding her arms together. "It would have been better if we mentioned it the minute we learned about it. I hope you aren't angry with us."

Riku seemed pensive. "It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong. Thanks for clearing things up."

With that said, Riku got up and Sora followed. "We'll see you guys at school later."

Despite everything that was explained, there seemed to be a thick cloud of uneasiness hanging over everyone. Sora walked out into the streets, his eyes falling on Riku's house across the street. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping that some of that uneasiness would leave with it.

"I think Kairi's completely lost it," Riku chimed in, interrupting Sora's train of thought. "It's so ridiculous it's almost painful to think about it. I've known Kairi for years and she's never acted this way."

Sora leaned up against Riku's car, his hands finding safety in his pockets. He should be angry, furious with Kairi, yet he found himself having mixed feelings. It was a normal reaction to get upset right after what Larxene had said. Who wouldn't be angry when they were being accused? But, he found reason in those same accusing thoughts. It just came to show that Kairi was protective, immensely at that. If only she could see that he wasn't what she thought he was. Bringing a hand up to the same cheek that had stung earlier, Sora let out a sigh.

"Maybe I should talk to her," the brunet directed at his silver-haired companion. "Let her know that I have nothing to do with Marluxia. I've only talked to him a couple of times, he's nothing more than a friend."

Riku bit his lip rather suddenly. He loved Sora, would do anything for him. But him calling Marluxia a 'friend' just didn't sit well with him. The guy was okay by anyone's means, but there was something in those amethyst eyes, something that made goosebumps travel up his arms. His eyes grew wide, the realization kicking in.

_"Kairi wasn't afraid of Sora cheating on me. She knows him. She should know him as much as I do. Her suspicions, she was having a hard time trying to accept that Sora could be capable of something like that. But she couldn't. She couldn't because she knows him. What she's afraid of…"_

"Riku?"

He shook his head, sending strands of silver across his face. "I think I understand why Kairi was so upset."

Sora tilted his head slightly, eagerly waiting for Riku's reply. "What is it?"

X

Kairi was beginning to have seconds thoughts as she stood outside the apartment complex. It was early evening, and the streetlights were just flickering into life as the night sky lost the last dwindling sunrays.

_"What if he doesn't want to see me? Maybe he's completely forgotten about me and won't want to talk to me."_

Her eyes popped up when she heard footsteps trailing down the series of stairs in front of her. She felt her stomach do a flip as soon as the figure came into the light. It had been quite a while since she last saw him, yet she knew he hadn't changed at all. He ended up looking in her direction and stopped whatever it was he was doing.

"Kairi?"

She couldn't help but smile at the sound of his voice. "It's been a while."

Seifer Almasy could see the smile on her face and returned the gesture. "Yeah, it has. How have you been?"

Nervously, Kairi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I've been good, going to the academy, the same old stuff."

The blonde college student folded his arms. "That's good to hear."

There wasn't a whole lot Kairi could think to say following the typical 'how are you' routine. Part of her felt stupid for even coming. She was the one that broke up with Seifer the previous summer and he had moved on. But, a different part of her was glad he did move on. It would have been nice if she could have as well.

"What brings you around here? I didn't think you had any friends in this area."

The burgundy haired girl concentrated on a box garden hanging from a first story window, the flowers moving gently in the evening breeze. "I don't know why I came around here myself, I've just been having a rough couple days."

Seifer had never disliked Kairi. Even after their breakup, he thought about her a lot. The scandal with his mother in Holly City had left him in shambles, so he understood why Kairi did what she thought was best. Just looking at her now he could tell that she was suffering from something. Maybe she had come to see if he could lend an ear.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, a hand running through his short blonde hair.

Kairi wanted to shake her head 'no' but found herself nodding. "It's so stupid, I can hardly think you would be willing to hear me out on it."

Seifer leaned up against a near lamppost. "We're friends, right?"

And so Kairi went on to explain everything from right after their breakup, to what had been bothering her regarding Riku and Sora's relationship. The entire time her eyes were on the brim of tears, but she held them back, not wanting Seifer to see her cry. He simply stood there and listened, making sure no to interrupt. Once she was done, the chirping of the crickets was all that he could hear.

"I don't know what to think anymore. For all I know, I was completely wrong about everything."

They were both now sitting underneath the lamppost, the shadows at their feet stretching out into the darkness.

"I could have lost my friends because of my suspicions. I feel terrible," Kairi said bringing her knees to chest level. "I slapped Sora today and the minute I did, I knew I had done something wrong. But I couldn't let them know that, I couldn't let them know that I was wrong after all the crap I had said. I didn't know what I was thinking."

"You went on your gut instinct," Seifer offered, "That's what we all do when we aren't sure of a situation. Remember, I got kicked out of high school for fighting. I didn't know how to handle the situation there so I went with what my gut was telling me."

Seifer let out a laugh. "And even though I went with it and the worst happened, I don't regret it. I learned from it."

Kairi looked to the side, her gaze falling on the taller man's figure. "But what I did was beyond that. I betrayed their trust. Selphie, Hayner, Larxene, Riku, and Sora. Do you think they can forgive me for being such an idiot?"

The blonde turned to her and looked pensive for about a minute. "You made a mistake. You didn't commit some horrendous crime. Everyone makes mistakes Kairi, if they're your friends then they will be able to see that and forgive you."

Kairi found herself smiling into her knees. "You're right, I need to apologize to everyone. Especially those two."

A ringing came from Seifer's pocket and he swiftly reached in and took his phone out. He talked for a minute or so before hanging up and setting the phone back in its original place.

"Who was that?" Kairi asked curiously.

Seifer bit his lip slightly. "That was Leon."

Kairi's cheeks bristled with waves of heat. "Oh, your boyfriend, right?"

Seifer nodded. "Yeah, Leon and I have been together since last summer. He's been wanting me to move into his place for ages now, so I've been busily packing things up here and moving them over to his apartment."

Kairi smiled. "That's great Seifer, I'm really happy for you. I'm glad you were able to find someone that can really understand you."

"Hey," he said, "you'll find someone again. And when you do, we'll all hang out and go to dinner or something. Does that sound like a plan?"

She found herself leaning up against his shoulder. "Yeah, that sounds good."

X

Sora walked into his condo to find Figaro sprawled out on the living room floor. A massacred ball of string lay at his side, the aftermath of a busy day of playing. He smiled at the feline before setting his things by the door and then walking over to the kitchen. His eyes managed to catch the phone blinking red, letting him know that someone had left him a message.

_"New message, 4:34 p.m."_

Sora waited for the click and the voice that followed was someone he was never expecting.

"_Sora, this is Brahne. I would have said 'your grandmother', but I don't think I'm entitled to that any longer. I'm sorry for everything that you have gone through this past year, and believe me when I say that I was just as surprised to know about everything that gone on. I need to keep this short, so I'll just go ahead. There's something very serious that I need to talk to you about, so I beg of you to come to Holly City. You have my number so don't be afraid to call. Please Sora, this is something you need to know."_

There was another click, and the voice died away. It had left him standing rigid. He could think of absolutely no reasons as to why Brahne would contact him. It had been almost a year since he last saw her during the court ruling, so why did she all of a sudden demand he see her? He took a look at the calendar hanging on the refrigerator, an entire week circled in red marker.

"Spring break. I'll be going to Holly City to see Cid and then to Mt. Gagazet. I'll see what she wants then."

X

He knew it was a dream. He hated them. Absolutely hated them. It had taken him years to overcome them, overcome all the horrible things he had to go through. But he found himself back in that place, that one place he had worked so hard to escape from. He stood before it, the bleak and desolate building staring back at him. There were voices, voices so overwhelming he couldn't help but kneel in pain.

_"You wretched little brat, look at this mess you've made!"_

_"Little boys don't wet their beds."_

_"You are a disgrace, you will never get out here the way you're going."_

_"Look around you! Everyone is being taken to a home except you."_

_"You will never be loved."_

_"Nobody will accept you."_

_"You will always be alone."_

Marluxia woke up, his breathing ragged and heavy. His entire body was soaked in sweat, gleaming under the moonlight shining through his window. It took him a few minutes to calm down, realize that he was fine.

"It'll never end."

His phone began to ring and he grudgingly reached for the device sitting on his right side table.

"What is it?"

"I did it. It's ours."

"Speak clearly Zexion, it's 3 o'clock in the morning and I'm barely awake."

"I know it's late for you, but this was something I couldn't hold off on until morning. I've done it Marluxia, I managed to buy all the stocks in Dalmasca."

Marluxia's senses were suddenly very keen. "You better not be joking Zexion."

"I'm not! I'm serious here. It took a while, but they're ours. Which means, the Dalmasca branch of Cid Highwind's company is now ours."

To think that only moments ago he was suffering a dream he would rather disappear and never return. But now, everything had changed. A smile played itself across his lips. He had done it. The first step had been taken.

"So come home already Marly, you've been gone long enough."

Marluxia sat up against the headboard of his bed. "I told you already, and for the last time, I'm not coming back until I'm done here."

"But you are the owner of the Dalmasca branch now. It's only a matter of time before you become the head of it all, you know it Marluxia."

He wasn't quick to respond. Instead, he sat there looking out the window.

"Marly, Marluxia? You there?"

"Do you remember when we were little, we would sit outside on the roof and watch the skies hoping that they would darken."

"Yeah…I remember."

"We would always get into so much trouble afterwards, but I didn't care. I would take whatever lashings I got if I could continue staring at the skies."

"The other kids looked up to you Marly. We all thought you were the bravest kid. Nobody else had the nerve to stand up to them except you."

Marluxia's face saddened. "But they all got something I never did."

Zexion didn't need to ask what it was, he knew all to well. "Same here Marly, same here."

…A family.

tbc

**Next Chapter: Riku and the rest of the senior class take their trip to Mt. Gagazet. Sora travels to Holly City to speak with Brahne, but something unexpected happens. It seems whatever secret she had might not see the light of day.**


End file.
